Dear Editor:
When I visited Chancellor Wendler's biography page on the SIU website, I was surprised to see that he has, up until the present, spent his entire career in the field of architecture. It is quite apparent that Chancellor Wendler's background did not prepare him for designing and proposing tuition increases. Chancellor Wendler's proposal lacks proper research, consultants and dialogue. Last year, as a senior at the University of Illinois, I fought against the proposed tuition increase on behalf of the disenfranchisement of the lower middle class. In the end however, I believe that a tuition increase is necessary for a university degree to be worth something in comparison with its peer institutions. The trick is figuring out how to improve the state of a university while not compromising and disenfranchising students.
It is imperative that students not be exposed to "taxation without representation." Student populations such as international students, who have so far been overlooked, need their concerns heard well before a tuition increase is proposed. Tuition increases are much like architecture. They must be thoroughly researched, consultants must carefully scrutinize them and there must be active dialogue concerning a vision of what is to be accomplished.
Amar Chadaga
graduate student, Southern Illinois University School of Medicine
Published on 11/17/05; 12:24:44 PM
