Newspapers / The Guilfordian (Greensboro, N.C.) / April 19, 2013, edition 1 / Page 10
Part of The Guilfordian (Greensboro, N.C.) / About this page
This page has errors
The date, title, or page description is wrong
This page has harmful content
This page contains sensitive or offensive material
OPINION 10 WWW.GU I LFORDIAN.COM Out-of'State? Out of luck: raising tuition on out-of-state students Early in my collegiate career, I attended Appalachian State University. I didn't do terribly well, but while there, I met some amazing people, some of whom were from Tennessee or Virginia. One of those people was Matt McMahon, a current Ph.D. student in economics at the University of Tennessee. "(Appalachian State) really appealed to me," said McMahon. "I fell in love with the campus and the type of people who seemed to go there. I wanted to get out into the world and experience a change of pace, and Appalachian State seemed to be a perfect place for me to do that." Currently, out-of-state students pay nearly $29,000 to attend University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill compared to $8,000 for in-state students. Despite the cost, they decided to attend our schools for good reason: North Carolina has a tradition of academic excellence exemplified by schools such as UNC, Duke and NC State University. However, after rewarding his cabinet with eight percent raises in January, Governor Pat McCrory lobbied for raising out-of-state tuition by six percent in order to counter a $138 million budget cut his spoiled administration wishes to employ. Additionally, McCrory wants to raise out-of-state tuition by 12.3 percent in six UNC-system schools charging lower rates for out-of-state tuition than others: UNC School BY ANTHONY HARRISON Staff Writer of the Arts, NC A&T, NC State, UNC-Charlotte, UNC- Wilmington and UNC-Chapel Hill. "Out-of-state students are a significant source of revenue for public institutions," said Dean of Admission and Financial Aid Andrew Strickler. "If you are going to cut a state subsidy (...) then additional revenue needs to be generated. Option A would be to enroll more out-of-state students at the same price, (while) Option B would be to enroll the same number of out-of-state students at a higher rate of tuition." What I can't understand is why McCrory wishes to make education in this state unaffordable to students who want to learn here. We at The Guilfordian have already covered how McCrory disdains liberal arts education. He insists the UNC system is broken and throwing money at our problems can't solve them. But are these problems solved by slashing our education budget at the jugular and making education less accessible to bright minds? Furthermore, what if this raise in out-of- state tuition doesn't offset the proposed cuts? "If the state system is unable to generate the same amount of revenue from out-of-state students, then there is a possibility that in-state tuition rates would have to rise somewhat significantly," said Strickler. If tuition rises so drastically for UNC-system schools, we potentially lose many students who would gladly tout one of our schools as their alma mater. "I don't know if I really could've afforded (tuition at that price)," said McMahon. "An increase of that magnitude would've played much more significantly into my decision." McMahon could have attended the University of Tennessee while receiving a stipend of a few hundred dollars per semester as an undergrad, yet he decided to attend a UNC-system school. My point in including him in this piece is that these tuition increases are more than a budgetary concern. In state students like myself may never meet wonderful people from different walks of life and cultures if high tuition keeps them away from attending our schools. I'm no fiscal genius, but there must be less self-destructive ways of raising revenue for the state than cutting our education budget. Online Poll WHAT DO YOU THINK? □ There should be tuition hikes. □ There should be spending cuts. □ Both. □ Neither. To answer this poll, check out the article online at WWW.CUlLFORDIAN.COi AKE YOU INTERESTED IN... EARN ENGLISH OR COMMUNICATION CREDIT & CAREER EXPERIENCE WHILE WORKING FOR... THE GUILFORDIAN! Register for ENGL285: Guilfordian Practicum for the fall semester for 1,2, or 4 credits. Contact Jeff Jeske, jjeske(g)guilford.edu for more information. Instructor permission required. Basketball, more than a game? BY MICHAEL CASWELL Staff Writer "We have a major problem with the culture of athletics," said Vice President for Student Affairs and Dean of Students Aaron Fetrow. "It's the tail that wags the dog." Recently, Rutgers University Head Basketball Coach Mike Rice was caught on video verbally and physically abusing his players. Multiple videos were taken over a two-year period from 2010 to 2012. The video showed Rice hurling balls at players, shoving players and cussing at players when they would not perform up to his standards. When I first watched the video, I was waiting for a 6'8" forward to knock this guy's teeth down his throat. Sadly, this never happened. A lot of questions have come up since the incident. Why was it allowed to go on so long? Why did the players not come forward sooner? I believe the question we should be asking is why have sports become something so important that we will look past horrifying things just to win? Most kids are taught from an early age to hold sports in a high regard, including basketball. These days, kids as young as eight years old will be on basketball courts year-round, every weekend. The culture of tournament sports is upon us and it's a bleak monster that controls parents' and kids' lives all over the country. I played tournament basketball all through high school. Luckily, I had a good experience, but I did see it negatively affecting players and parents all the time. Tournament basketball has become a necessity if you want to have a successful basketball career and to get attention from the top colleges in the country. Even though basketball is just a game, it is treated as if it is the most important thing in the world to some families. The U.S. has made sports so important, that coaches are some of the most powerful and wealthy people. Major universities pay their coaches three times as much as their professors. If you do not see a problem with that, then you are probably part of the problem. Sports have turned into a corporation, and the players are their slaves, players that would not hesitate to push someone from another team because of a hard foul or shout at a referee for a bad call. But when it comes to coach, they shut up and listen like mindless robots. Basketball has become so powerful and the source of so much money that it controls colleges across the country. This is not the fault of the players. Its parents' fault for teaching their kids that basketball is the most important thing in life. Instead of parents telling their kids to pick up a book, they force basketball or other sports on them. Then they tell kids that winning is everything, just like I'm sure coaches parents told them the same. This vicious cycle created the basketball we see today, the basketball that generates coaches that will do anything to win and mindless players that will follow their lead. Schools and parents support these behaviors. It has become just part of the game, and we sit back and accept it. It's time we become enlightened and do something about it. Coaches, players and parents need to realize that at the end of the day, basketball is just a game, no different than Yahtzee or Monopoly. i
The Guilfordian (Greensboro, N.C.)
Standardized title groups preceding, succeeding, and alternate titles together.
April 19, 2013, edition 1
10
Click "Submit" to request a review of this page. NCDHC staff will check .
0 / 75