I am a staff columnist with The Technician, the N.C. State University newspaper. Before you jeer and call me a country, truck-driving redneck, I want to let you know I am neither. Today I am writing to solicit the unified support of all UNC schools, for we all have become aware of the impending budgetary crisis. This crisis not only affects us, but it also affects the growth of our respective communities.
The often unheard victim of the state's budget crisis are the community colleges. These schools were already in subpar condition, and their impact on the Triangle area is heavily felt. I don't write this just to reiterate obvious budgetary problems; I am talking about who are taking the biggest hit, us.
We at N.C. State face another round of tuition hikes, and now they are telling us we don't have enough money. It doesn't feel right or sound that way either. We are the future of these universities, and our well-being directly correlates with theirs. I don't know exactly what to do, but I know it begins and ends with us, the students, taking an active voice in our education.
What are we paying for nowadays? It almost seems we are paying the bills of the universities while the education they give us steadily decreases. Take five minutes and e-mail your state legislator, senator, mayor or even your student government representatives. If they hear the collective voice they are up against, they might value us a little more.
Decker Ngongang
N.C. State University
