Greener Money

A $5 tuition increase to be eco-friendly won’t put a dent in students’ wallets.

Senators from Temple Student Government recently passed a resolution that could add an extra $5 to tuition for more green initiatives on campus. As stated in Nadia Elkaddi’s article on page 1, this money would go directly to the Office of Sustainability, a department that currently receives no specific allocations, to fund eco-friendly efforts, such as energy efficient light bulbs, more recycling bins and a cleaner campus.

In the midst of a recession, it isn’t easy to argue for raising tuition – for any reason. While it’s understandably difficult for many students to pay tuition at its current rate, an extra $5 certainly won’t be the deciding factor in whether a student can afford to attend school.

Full-time students at Temple are already required to pay a number of fees each semester, including: a $125 technology fee, a $45 general activities fee, a $25 student facilities fee, a $40 recreation services fee and a $60 student health services fee. Tacking on $5 green fee hardly matters when it’s compared to the approximate $600 students spend every year in university fees, regardless of whether they ever get sick, go to the gym or participate in school-sponsored events.

Paying the university an extra $10 a year to support sustainability is much better than paying an extra $5000 – the estimated amount of money Temple students would have had to pay if State Rep. John Taylor (R, Pa.) had his way and Temple did not receive its state appropriation for the school year.

Think about it this way – you could be paying much more. According to Elkaddi’s article, students at Northland College in Ashland, Wis., are currently paying eight times as much as Temple students could be.

If Temple is going to ask students to pay an extra $10 a year, it should go toward a good cause instead of someone’s paycheck.

In general, turning to more green options is not only beneficial to the campus, but to the students. Energy-efficient appliances will reduce the amount of money the university spends on electricity and the presence of more recycle bins on campus would give students more opportunities to recycle and fewer excuses not to do so.