Every year, the Student Services Finance Committee meets, rubber stamps eligibility to every group that has received money in the past and raises the student fees that make up part of the students’ tuition bill.

It appears the status quo is changing. SSFC has already denied eligibility to four groups, saving students $511,589 next year, or $12.80 per student. To do this, SSFC has only had to enforce its own rules. Groups that break federal law by advocating violence, or are exclusionary, violate regent policy papers or do not offer a service–these groups are out.

Hopefully, SSFC is only half done. Funding hearings begin Monday, and SSFC can easily save students another $500,000 to $1,000,000 by simply forcing groups to have reasonable funding levels.

When I think of liberal and student activism, I think of the University of California-Berkeley. I was astonished to look at their levels of student fees compared to our levels.

Berkeley’s top ten student-funded organizations receive less student money combined than each of our top four groups individually. Madison’s bottom three organizations on this list actually receive more money than Berkeley’s top ten organizations combined.

Berkeley, “the most liberal university in America,” apparently practices some fiscal responsibility.

Students are ripping students off on this campus. Tuition continues to rise, and our student government continues to raise our fees that are part of tuition. It is time for our student government to take the lead on cutting tuition bills.

SSFC needs to step in and start saying no. It needs to take a long, hard look at what is being requested. Berkeley grants about one-third of the dollars requested; Madison grants an astonishing 78 percent of what organizations request–and groups at Madison are asking for five times more than groups at Berkeley!

The greed needs to end.

Enough is enough.

Matt Modell ([email protected]) is a senior majoring in journalism and political science. He is in Washington, D.C. this fall for an internship.