In response to Mandy O’Brien’s letter from Jan. 24, “Opt-out fee could fund green power,” I ask the Husky Action Energy Team (HEAT), the Student Government Association (SGA) and other Northeastern environmentalists to please reconsider their scheme to raise money for their respectable cause. I would like to ask you to keep in mind I am not trying to be the clich’eacute; dissenting Republican, I am just trying to offer a perspective that is foreign to most who attend school in Sen. Ted Kennedy’s backyard.
First off, let me be clear that the Earth is going through a warming phase and action should be taken. Action should be fiscally responsible and mandatory for all developed nations, including the United States. Northeastern, being a large institution in a major city, should set an example by minimizing consumption and decreasing its “carbon footprint.”
Having students waive a $30 green energy fee just adds another thing for busy students to miss or overlook. Northeastern already lets students waive a $1,825 fee for the school’s health insurance. Adding a separate fee that needs to be waived in order to avoid losing money will only result in further irritation toward how Northeastern conducts business.
As a part time employee of the registrar’s office, I see firsthand the large number of students who forget to waive their health insurance. Of these students, most tend to be quite angry and generally displeased with the process. A $30 green fee on top of this might just send some students off the deep end.
I suggest HEAT and SGA make this an “optional” fee, and enable students to have the ability to choose to pay, instead of reaping the benefits of student’s forgetfulness and honest mistakes. Besides, the last thing some conservative students want to see next to the $70 student center fee and $109 student activity fee is a $30 hippy fee to top the list of ambiguous charges.
Arguing that $30 is a fraction of your $15,750 tuition is irrelevant, self-centered and should be removed from HEAT’s talking points. Not everyone’s parents pay for tuition, books, rent, E85 ethanol, groceries and organic Tofu, so $30 is actually a lot of money to those trying to get by. Moreover, many students do not fully agree with the concept of global warming. Sure, it probably exists, but to what extent and its consequences are still being sorted out. Al Gore may pitch some doomsday circumstances in your direction, but others contest that we may only need some extra sunscreen.
Knowing this, I’m sure most upperclassmen could care less about making Northeastern a so-called “climate change leader” and more about graduating within five years with as little debt as possible.
As outraged as I was by SGA and HEAT’s proposal, I’m most amused by the strategy chosen by the Al Gore disciples. “At some point every student needs to ask themselves if they are part of the solution or part of the problem,” wrote O’Brien in her letter. Interesting, that sounds wonderfully similar to a proclamation made by President George W. Bush, a favorite amongst HEAT, I’m sure. I believe the President said something to the effect of “you are either with us or against us on the War on Terror. ” See, the fear tactics fall on both sides of the aisle.
– Adam Spang is a middler political science major, president of the College Republicans and a staff member for the Northeastern Patriot.
