The Journal

Issue date: 4/7/05 Section: Opinion/Editorial

Carrie Shylanski

As registration for next semester begins, those students who are returning to Webster University will have to adjust their wallets to prepare for a hike in tuition.

Yet while tuition is increasing, the Webster budget is decreasing. Students will likely see less from Webster due to budget cuts, but the administration has yet to tell us where we can expect to see services cut or budgets slashed. Departments must cut eight to 10 percent of their expenses, no small chunk of money.

With pending budget cuts, we should all be curious about why the university is short on funds, especially with tuition and campus apartment rates are on the rise. A 6 percent tuition increase, which will make next year's tuition $17,210, was announced last week. Additionally, rent for a single apartment next year will rise to a whopping $750.

College students are not made of money. Many of us will be paying back student loans for the rest of our lives. If students are going to start receiving lackluster services, which we in turn are paying for, we have the right to know. Ninety-six percent of the budget comes from tuition, after all. The administration is accountable to the students.

In addition to knowing what the budget cuts will affect, we also need to know how we became so broke in the first place. Questions about this are met with vague answers from the administration, although Vice President Neil George admitted not all international campuses were "generating surpluses."

The building of a new dorm will call for lots of money, but the university anticipates construction and hopefully that is always factored in the tuition. Seniors have seen the construction of a library and parking garage in their four years.

Recently, Webster has been in talks with Eden Seminary to purchase parts of Eden, specifically the Luhr Library to be used as a science building. Although this is better than building a new science building, there will still need to be renovations to make the building up to code.

Instead of purchasing Eden, the money should be put back into the budget to avoid cuts at all costs. The university can always go back and purchase parts of Eden later, when budget cuts aren't imminent.

Carrie Shylanski, a junior journalism major, is a staff writer for The Journal.

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