SALEM — On his second visit within the week to the state Capitol to talk about the student incidental fee, ASUO President Jay Breslow finally had his chance Monday to tell members of the Legislature why he thinks the fee is important.
Last week, about 60 students from the state’s public universities packed the room during a public hearing before the Joint Ways and Means Subcommittee on Education. The subcommittee was expecting to hear a panel of five college students speak about higher education funding.
But time permitted only one student the chance to voice her opinion.
The remaining four students spoke Monday, with two taking the chance to address the likely 8 percent tuition increase over the next two years, and the other two addressing the student incidental fee.
It was Breslow’s second time before the legislators — the first came during a work session over spring break when questions about the fee were directed to him.
Monday, Breslow had the chance to formally testify.
Explaining the “three guiding principles” he sees governing the student incidental fee system at the University, Breslow said the fee’s first benefit is that it allows students to explore new ideas and develop critical thinking skills.
A second principle, Breslow said, is the important part the fee plays in the University’s mission statement.
“The incidental fee gives students the opportunity to learn outside the classroom,” Breslow said. It “allows students to take the theory that we read in books and learn in class and apply it in a real-world situation.”
Breslow related his own personal experiences in the Multicultural Center, a time that made him realize he wants to work with children for the rest of his life. Without that experience, Breslow said, he might not know that his “true calling is youth advocacy.”
The third benefit of student control of incidental fees, Breslow said, is that it provides a form of campus democracy.
“Students work very hard to make the most of the dollars we have, and we take that responsibility very seriously,” he said.
The only committee member to respond to Breslow’s testimony, Sen. Cliff Trow, (D-Corvallis), said his wife used to work with students as they divided the incidental fee.
“It’s amazing the interest they exhibited over the years,” he said. “It’s one of the important activities of student government.”
Mary Cunningham, chairwoman of the board of the Oregon Student Association, took a different approach when speaking with legislators. She said increasing tuition by 8 percent over the next two years is a move in the wrong direction.
Cunningham, who is also the state affairs coordinator of the Portland State University student body, said that in the 1980s, the state provided about $2 for every dollar students paid in tuition.
With the proposed increases, Cunningham said, students will end up contributing more money to higher education than the government will.
The budget “asks students to pay more, but receive less,” Cunningham said. “Unfortunately, this budget says higher education is not enough of a priority to meet student contributions dollar for dollar.”
Much of the student representation at legislative work sessions has been pre-emptive rather than reactive, OSA Legislative Director John Wykoff said. Students want legislators to know where their concerns lie before the issues become too big. After Monday’s session, Wykoff said, the situation did not look too grim.
“The fact that there were no negative questions is a testament to how good a job [the students] did in representing the needs of students in both tuition and student fees,” Wykoff said. “It also shows that the committee members seemed to understand the important role student fees play in the university experience.”
About 15 University students attended last Thursday’s committee work session, and students will travel to the Capitol for another session today. Legislative Organizer Melissa Unger said that if questions about the incidental fee are going to come up, it will be during today’s session, which has been scheduled for discussion of policy issues.