Where Your Money is Going, Without Your Consent

By Lindsay Melendez To the average Ramen-dependent college student, giving away money seems unthinkable. Throwing your friend a five for the keg or a 10 for the concert ticket he spotted you can be a struggle at times, but what about 53 grand? If this amount shocks you, it shouldn't. Each year we blindly fork this over to the university for "tuition." Assume all of this is going toward your education? Think again.

Chancy Nancy recently had her hand in the "university's" cookie jar and she's been pretty generous handing out the treats. In fact, Cantor recently took 2.5 million dollars from the jar and handed it over to municipal services in downtown Syracuse. In other words, that's the price of making sure our shit flushes smoothly and our streets stay clean. Surprised? It gets worse. Because the university devours so much of the city's tax-exempt property, Cantor made an additional agreement to cut the city a $500,000 check for the next five years as an allowance for whatever Mayor Stephanie Miner stipulates.

Believe it or not, the idea of universities giving money to the cities that house them is not revolutionary. Yale gives New Haven $7.5 million annually, and Brown gives Providence $1.2 million. Like Syracuse, cities harboring universities have accepted the cash. The difference? The student bodies of those schools were aware of the agreements.

I'm proud of the fact that our university is cognizant of the struggles that the city of Syracuse faces. Sadly, this internal altruism vanishes when I try to figure out where the money for the city is coming from. Surely all those late library fees and lost keys aren't paying for this, are they?

You can bet SU won't miss a beat about your upcoming Bursar payment. In fact, you may not be able to register for classes if you don't pony up the money in time. So, why should we let Chancy off easy for throwing around our hard-earned dough?

Regardless of sounding like a selfish snob who could care less about the community that surrounds our comfy quad of learning, stop giving out our money, Nancy. We first need the hard data behind what portion of our money is going back into our education and which part solely benefits the city of Syracuse. For now, I find solace knowing that my money may have helped a Daisy Duke's patron flush her friend's vomit as she held back her hair.