COLUMN: The lost art of begging for more money
We as students at USU know that there is one supernal truth. There is not enough money to go around. This is true across the board of academics. Prices continue to rise for tuition, fees and books. When I came to school in the bygone, happy-go-lucky days of 2009, soup and rolls in the Skyroom cost just $2, a price that has more than doubled since then. Even the price of USU hockey games has gone up by nearly 50 percent. So, needless to say, proposals to even further increase the price of an education are generally met with negative reaction.
Recently it seems the art students at USU have made the rounds in classrooms searching out signatures for a petition. Signing this petition implies the support of an increase of general student fees so that the students of the Caine School of the Arts can have a little more money. I am a fan of the arts, but I don’t understand the need to increase all student fees to help just one school.
The arts are necessary for a functioning society. This can be argued by any anthropology major here at USU. It seems to me that they are doing a fine job with the resources they currently have. High student fees are quite understandable. A simple trip to the computer lab is all one needs to see that this school requires a lot of money to operate, and the facilities that we have at our disposal are substantial. Our University’s technology resources are available to all students, so essentially every major profits from them.
In wanting more money for the arts, I question what they need the extra money for. The newly formed Caine School of the Arts has received impressive sums from the Caine family and many other benefactors from Cache Valley and the surrounding areas. First, let me be another voice to join the chorus of those thanking these benefactors for their generous donations. This university is much better off because of them. These donations were enough to create an individual school and build a state of the art performance hall. Utah State’s facilities are great. This doesn’t seem to be the reason for the petition. Perhaps it has to do with art supplies or costumes and props for the theater. If this is the case, let me be the one to state the obvious. Perhaps the art majors should accept that they are going to need to invest a little more in their education beyond tuition to fund their artistic ambitions. Most of my classes have extra fees on top of the standard fees. This is sometimes strange in classes that don’t have anything beyond a lecture, but I accept it.
One may argue that we pay hundreds in student fees for athletics, and should thus pay a little more for the arts. Both types of extra-curricular activities contribute to a quality society, but the difference in spending boils down to money itself. Athletics draws in an incredible amount of money both from attendance to events or boosters that support individual teams. It is safe to assume that most of our student fees for athletic purposes go to fund the facilities that all students have access to, such as the gym equipment in the field house or the pools and courts in the HPER. Overall, athletics are simply more popular than the arts. Interest in athletics spans a huge percentage of the student body, while interest in the arts is not so general.
So, my word to all you art majors out there who want more of our money: Don’t count on it. Some of us like the arts, but not all of us. Take the encouragement to be a little more creative with your money allocation, use of supplies and exploitation of resources. If all else fails, you can throw a bake sale, perform in the street for money, or create those cool sidewalk murals while a hat sits collecting coins from passing admirers. It’s futile to go asking your fellow students for money. It’s just something we don’t have, and surely aren’t willing to give without receiving something in return.
Tyler Barlow is a sophomore studying computer engineering. He can be reached at tyler.barlow@aggiemail.usu.edu.