There was never a doubt in my mind what college I would eventually attend in 2005. Although I looked at other colleges when I was a naïve high school student, in the end it was NKU because of the care you displayed for students. Unfortunately, NKU has lost sight of their students.

The root cause of this seems to be your greed. First off, the professors seem more interested in the learning outcomes instead of educating their students. But the professors aren’t to blame — you are, for treating them like employees instead of the intelligent individuals who do this for the betterment of the coming generation and not to make you a buck.

Speaking of bucks, why are you making such short-sighted decision with them? Somehow, almost magically, you found $5.3 million for next year’s budget and can suddenly give professors a much-deserved raise after the slap-in-the-face money you gave them last year. After years of not getting a dime more, giving them such a paltry sum in December and then subsequently finding millions and setting up a pool of more than a $3 for continued raises seems a bit – pathetic.

And how about that new Campus Recreation Center? You are proposing that a full-time student pay $120 next year and raising that fee to nearly $400 a year for a building that is questionably needed at best when there are so many other places that money could be spent.

Just for kicks and giggles, there is a much needed new dorm, or repairs to the existing ones. How about getting Founders Hall up to code? Maybe some of that money could go to subsidizing food on campus (which is already ridiculously priced). Maybe keep the library open longer, or maybe install more lights by walkways and in parking lots so people aren’t sexually assaulted or hit by cars.

All in all, college isn’t a place of learning and experimenting. It is a place where every student is a number, where the upper percent make large salaries, the lower percent eeks out a meager existence and is based off a model to make the biggest and quickest buck possible.

I would call on all the professors, staff and students here to join me in writing letters to The Northerner, the Board of Regents, the Staff Congress, to everybody, to change this seemingly unending downward spiral in which this university is traveling. Together we can regain our university!

-Vern Hockney