TO THE EDITOR:
The Oct. 12 article (“Union renovation debated”) stated that the student fee audit committee voted against the proposed debt fee “because of a lack of detail about the project.” As a member of that committee, I want to clearly state that no amount of detail would convince me to support the fee.
Students on this campus are rightfully suffering from debt-fee fatigue. Over the past decade, student fees have increased by leaps and bounds as the University took on more and more debt to pay for buildings and renovations with an attitude of “build now, pay later”.
The proposed debt fee would require the next 30 years of Carolina students to pay off the debt incurred to build the so-called “innovation hub”.
I am not entirely convinced the concept will still live up to its hype after 30 years. Nonetheless, if the University believes in the project, it should find a funding source that does not impose more debt on the student body.
The Rams Club recently announced it had raised $13 million toward its goal of paying for half of the new $70 million addition to Kenan Stadium. In that context, the $11 million for the proposed innovation hub seems like a paltry sum. If the gracious donors to this University are willing to fund football but not innovation, maybe we should all re-evaluate our priorities.
Alex Mills
Speaker Pro Tempore
Student congress
