Welcome to the jungle

For many of you reading this, your second week of classes here at Temple has ended. In case we haven’t said it before, welcome to Temple University.

Our school can reach both dizzying heights and horrific lows, and chances are that before your four (or more) years are up, you probably will have experienced most of them.

First things first: Become involved with the school. Take time out to join student organizations and keep tabs on what is happening within Temple’s administration. Remember, this school ain’t free.

Either you or your parents are paying a good deal of money to attend here, and you have a say in how that money is spent.

Don’t like how there are never enough sections for required classes?

Don’t like how there isn’t enough housing on campus for everyone who needs it?

Don’t like how mysterious fees find their way onto every bill you receive?
Speak out.

And speaking of speaking out, the Pennsylvania legislature has cut a considerable amount of aid to Temple University. This year, tuition at Temple costs 7 percent more, thanks mostly to a $40 million budget cut to state universities.

Politicians are under the impression that college students don’t vote, and can have their aid taken away from them with no problems.

When March and April come around, and you hear about the latest rounds of budget cuts, make sure to get involved with on-campus groups fighting them.

Every budget cut in the state legislature is just the same as being robbed.

It’s your money being stolen, so don’t be quiet.

Meanwhile, the housing situation at Temple is even worse. Because of the school’s explosive growth during the past decade, we now have more students from outside the Philadelphia area.

Housing students in rented hotel rooms and rented apartments in the Art Museum district and on City Line Avenue is not a viable solution. After all, these students are paying to live on campus, not a 20 minute bus ride away.

Although the administration’s efforts to build new dormitories have been admirable, we need more space for all the students who need it. Fast.

But on a brighter note, Temple has some of the best professors around. Unlike many other public universities, we’re lucky enough to have mainly small classes.

The huge lecture hall classes that take place routinely at other schools are limited here to one or two departments. So ask around; find who the good professors are.

Every student here at Temple can easily recommend a few professors who stand out from the crowd. They are here and their classes will make your time at Temple that much better.

Finally, your tuition money is paying for things like Temple’s gym, the Student Recreation Center (13th street and Cecil B. Moore avenue), several libraries and tons of on-campus events.

Between classes and the inevitable parties, it can be easy to forget that we have an incredible gym and a library with just about every book you will ever need.

Make sure to check them out.