Opinion

Seg Fees Fuel Speech

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Students have been at the forefront of every major debate in history, and have put in a lot of time and energy to have their voices heard, no matter which side of the debate they’re on. Students participate in discussions, debates, protests, and lectures that provide a plethora of viewpoints and ideas that we see on our campus.

This is no accident. The University of Wisconsin realized that it is essential to our entry into the outside world and to our growing persons to be exposed to learning and ideas both inside and outside of the classroom. In 1894 the Board of Regents famously declared, “Whatever may be the limitations which trammel inquiry elsewhere, we believe that the great State University of Wisconsin should ever encourage that continual and fearless sifting and winnowing by which alone the truth can be found.”

It is only through the open exchange of ideas that we can truly be exposed to the diversity of ideas that exist in the society that students are entering as full-fledged participants. Here at Madison there are hundreds of organizations with different goals, missions, and opinions to fill our brains and expand our minds. Some make us cheer, some infuriate us, but they all make us think. This is the student voice.

On the UW-Madison campus, this open forum of ideas is promoted by the student segregated fee system. This means that students themselves pay for the forum that consists of many different ideas and viewpoints of students on this campus. This is what the university had in mind when it set up the system as one where students could learn both inside and outside the classroom. The funding of this forum of ideas is done by students, for students, as students are the most appropriate body to distribute fees on campus (Who would know more about student needs than students themselves?).

Part of the beauty of the student fee system at UW-Madison is every opinion and group has equal opportunity to receive funding and become part of the open forum of ideas that are represented on campus. This means a group, for example, could be funded to educate on pro-seg fee issues at the same time as a group could be funded to educate on anti-seg fee issues. All groups have equal opportunity for funding based on how much of a service they are to students on campus. It is through the exposure to a great diversity of opinions that we can truly get a university education.

Thus, an organization began this semester to educate students on the segregated fee system here at UW-Madison. Student Fee Defenders was created based on a coalition of students and student groups on campus that were dedicated to defending student fees at UW-Madison. The main reason Student Fee Defenders was created was to fill the void of knowledge that exists surrounding student segregated fees. The organization has a viewpoint just as every other organization that exists in the open forum of ideas. We believe student fees promote student speech and the open forum of ideas on campus, and that students are the most appropriate body to distribute these fees. We believe this open forum of ideas that exists on campus is critical to students’ education and entry into a society of diverse ideas and opinions. Besides, what better way to figure out your own opinion than to hear or speak with someone whose viewpoint is different than yours?

Admittedly, Student Fee Defenders has a viewpoint ? we clearly want an open forum of ideas on campus and feel student fees promote that forum. But the Campus Speech event in mid-November does not. The event is designed to be a purely educational event to get out much-needed information on campus.
Should students be paying for this education? Yes. Every student on this campus has a right to know. Why should students pay for it? Because student fees are complex. Students are not going to find out everything they need to know about student fees just by participating in that forum of ideas. They probably will learn a lot that way, but not about what seg fees are, how they work, what the Southworth case is (the case against the UW funding system), and how students can participate in the system. Students have a right to know this. In fact, I encourage all students to attend the Campus Speech event in November and form your own opinion on student fees. As students, we have a right to sift through the open forum of ideas on campus and make our own opinions. Our education and the truth are at stake. This is our voice.