Written by: Olivia McLean

As a typical “broke college student” we often moan and groan when it’s that time of the year to pay my tuition and fees. Institutional fees, athletic fees, student activity fees—the list goes on.

Yes, students know that these fees are necessary to maintain the university’s upkeep, but do we really know exactly what our money is going toward?

Over the past few years, it has been clear that VSU has been trying to cut back on some expenses (let’s take a moment to reminisce about late-night Hopper dining). One of the more interesting things they’ve cut back on affects over 50 percent of students.

Apparently, the Student Health Center no longer
administers pregnancy tests to women before giving them antibiotics or other medicines. This comes as a shocker since the Student Health Center is notorious for giving women pregnancy tests for the most miniscule concerns.

Unfortunately, one of the reasons for this cut-back has been blamed on the all-too-familiar, “budgeting
purposes.”

Yes, reducing the amount of pregnancy tests that are given may save the
university money, but it could potentially put a
fellow student at risk. There’s a reason why the pregnancy tests were given in the first place, so why change such an important protocol that has been in place for years?

We would expect that VSU would try to cut back expenses in other areas too, but it seems that is not going to happen. What might the school be buying with our fee money? Well, school spirit seems to be an important aspect.

Remember the billboards you saw in your hometown telling you to come to VSU? And that “Welcome to VSU” t-shirt you got during freshman year? And the drink koozie emblazoned with the prominent VSU logo? Those are only a few examples of where our money is going, and although their costs may seem insignificant, $91,000 could be redistributed in a more budget-conscious way.

Perhaps watching an episode of “Extreme Couponing” could help budget administrators to understand where we are coming from, but until then, we’ll have to see for ourselves who will be affected the most during the next round of budget planning.