By Aaron Levy (CIVL Station Manager) – Email
Print Edition: January 15, 2014
Students. Nearly all of us are or once were one.
Fees. All of us are always paying them; students, employees, citizens, it’s one of the universal truths — death and taxes.
Most of us also have pretty well developed ideas of what we do or don’t want to see fees, or taxes, that we pay go toward.
Many Americans hate the idea of Obama-care forcing them to pay for health coverage that supports a population of people who can’t afford to buy into their own personal insurance. Canadians enjoy a fairly socialist system of government provided health care, and there are splits among the voting population as to whether or not this is a good thing.
A lot of us debate with our votes.
We cast ballots intended to state our opinion, and throw our literal two cents into the ring with the intent of making our ‘voices’ count, if not heard.
All too often, though, the debate about fees gets splits into political perspectives; conservatives want fewer mandated fees and more privatized services. Liberals and radicals want to see those of us with more to spend money supporting those of us without them.
From this citizens’ perspective, these ideological differences are irreconcilable most of the time, and dividing ourselves into for and against sides doesn’t always yield results that either side are satisfied with.
With this chasm between the impact of voting and policy, it’s incredibly important that we vocalize our opinions on overarching matters that end up affecting all of us.
To this end, CIVL is excited to engage in a brand new program that will take place throughout the winter semester.
Starting at the end of January, every week, CIVL will be producing two-and-a-half hours of programming that focuses on one issue and one issue only: Student fees.
Do you know what student fees you pay at UFV? Do you know how those fees are spent?
Do you utilize the services that your fees are going towards? Do you want to see them go towards different services?
Do you think student fees should be wiped out completely, and students should be charged only for the education they receive and none of the other benefits that accompany being a fee paying student at a Canadian post-secondary institution?
Many students will have a wide variety of different answers to these and other questions, but this is why we are dedicating a total of over 30 hours of on-air programming this semester towards finding the different answers that UFV students have about the issues that impact their life on campus.
Post-secondary education is supposed to provide us with a safe and encouraging community to ask important questions in, and consider a variety of answers to.
If you are interested in talking about what you think matters with regards to student fees and service based operations on campus at UFV, contact fees@civl.ca and let us know what you want to talk about!
Check back at CIVL.ca in February for a schedule of when you can listen live, or download podcasts full of student created content that addresses the issues of student fees in a holistic way that puts what we are spending up against what we need to spend on.
All of it according to you.
