October 2, 2007
Landline blues in dorms
Imagine that you are returning to live in the dorms for a second year, and when you try to hook up cable television to your 30” flatscreen, you are informed that cable television is now an optional service in the dorms which requires a $35 installation fee on top of the new $25 monthly fee for something that you got for free last year. What is your reaction? Immediately you are faced with a descision: You can try to live for a year without the influences of mass media and quality entertainment, or you can turn a blind eye as the University continues to gouge you for everything they can get. This year, when I asked the cute-looking girl behind the desk at Craig Hall for my phone number, I was informed that land lines had been disabled in the dorms - to save money on Telecommunication Services, dorm phones were changed to an optional service. I was faced with the decision to pay the University $235 or to try and live for a year without having a phone number.
I am part of the minority that didn’t own a cell phone before coming to college; consequently I am also part of the minority that strongly disagrees with George Dennison’s decision to charge students for activating their dorm phones. I am not criticizing anyone for trying to save money, which is always a positive goal to keep in sight, but I am disconcerted that our student representatives consented to removing a basic utilty from the residences of nearly every incoming student, drastically downsizing the Telecommunication Services to save the University an estimate of fifty thousand dollars each year.
Tuition, room and board, and associated fees at the University costs a Montana resident $11,846 for two semesters and almost $21,052 for an out-of-state student, meaning it would only take the combined tuition of three to five students to pay for the University’s Telecommunication Services. Out of the 14,000 students enrolled for the Fall Sememster in 2006, three to five is not a significant number; accordingly, $50,000 is not a significant amount in relation to the University’s total funds. I am disconcerted that the basic utility that I relied upon for the majority of my communication to friends and family has been downsized to an optional service that includes a significant surcharge in relation to the amount of spending money that I have available this year.
Sources: Montana Kaimin, 9-5-07; University of Montana website.
Luke Juras
Sophomore, music education
This story has been viewed 144 times.
Comments
There are no comments for this story yet.
