Point
by Abigail Dergazarian
When attending a school, you want the student body to have a strong sense of school pride. School pride stems from a clean campus, good activities and in some cases a great sports program.
The popular saying “money makes the world go round” could lend no truer hand to the idea of “school pride.” It is true that being financially stable isn’t the answer to all the world’s problems but it sure does help in making things a little easier.
The rich history of Fullerton College has meant that we have lasted as a school and have thrived despite hard times economically and educationally.
Ironically that longevity would not have been possible without change and as we all know change does not come easily.
A.S. wants to keep that change going by making the optional A.S. benefit fee of $8.50 non-negotiable and mandatory for everyone.
This has been met with much backlash and rejection purely in the name of wanting to save a few dollars. I can respect wanting to not spend any more money than needed, especially when we live in an era where young 20-somethings balance two jobs, school and sometimes a family.
However, if thought is really put into it, the positives outweigh the negatives immensely. First off, let us really analyze the importance of $8.50.
Personally, I work at Disneyland and this is right under what I make an hour. So, with that being said I am sacrificing one hour of work for an entire semester of benefits through my school.
Whereas we would usually spend that money on lunch or coffee from Starbucks for a week. Now instead, we could spend it on keeping our campus looking its best and the occasional free pizza lunch through the school year. I feel that any backlash that this is receiving is just selfish opposition to a cause that can only produce a positive outcome.
The current school budget is only about $15,000 and with this proposed plan, it could be bumped up to almost $450,000 a year. This just isn’t for the free food. This bump in revenue for our school could fund school trips, bring both speakers and conferences to the school and help fund the care bank.
In a world where a few dollars is merely a drop in the pot, this will be worth supporting the mandatory A.S. fee and embracing it whole-heartedly.
Counterpoint
by Brittany Gonzales
As a college student, spending money is a tight subject. Most college students can’t afford to spend a lot of money. How often do you hear students say that they are hungry or they can’t afford to get food? This is the growing problem.
The average budget for a college student at a two-year community college is $15,933, according to College Board Advocacy and Policy Center. If A.S. gets their wish then that budget will go up.
College students can hardly afford to get food and pay bills. This is the reason that the Care Bank was put in place, but what will happen to those students who can’t afford to pay the A.S. fee?
Most of the students at Fullerton College already get financial aid and they can hardly pay for much else besides their classes. Yes, there are perks to having A.S. benefits but the $8.50 that students would be forced to pay is going to cause a lot of students to scramble over bills.
For some, this fee may be easy to pay but for others the health fee along with this new fee will cause them to panic over what they are going to do for the money.
According to totalbankruptcy.com people in their early 20s, most of who are college students, are the ones filing bankruptcy.
A lot of students are getting help by means of food stamps and other government funding. According to the USDA’s statistics, 4,264,816 people in California alone were on Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program as of November last year. This is all of California. California has the highest participants in SNAP. There is not a lot of money in the state if this many people are on SNAPs.
Students are struggling to make it. Some don’t get help from their parents or relatives and others get very little help from their families. This will be a burden on them.
Some students who are struggling use the Care Bank on campus for help with food. Others use A.S. to help with things like a bus pass, gas cards and other services but some of the students who use these facilities cannot afford the fee.
This is difficult because A.S. is suppose to help students who can’t afford things but if the fee is mandatory, then who is A.S. really helping?
This will in no way benefit the students who can’t afford the fee; it will only benefit the students who can. This is just another fee that students cannot afford.
