The Red and Black

Issue date: 10/14/08 Section: Opinions

Our bailout budget

Here's what The Red & Black would do for the University with $700 billion


The Red & Black conducted on-the-street interviews Monday asking students what they would do with the $700 billion needed to bail out Wall Street's financial mishaps.

With numerous budget cuts slimming the University's funds, The Red & Black editorial board couldn't help but wistfully wonder what the University could do with such a hefty sum.

The possibilities are endless:

- Bulk up the stadium. Increase stadium seating to ensure all students can attend football games, thus avoiding the annual Athletic Association ticketing headache. The association still could charge alumni boatloads for tickets, so everyone would be happy.

- Help workers make ends meet. A living wage is a right University employees need and deserve. Since the administration has said it has no funds to support a living wage, we think part of the $700 billion would do the trick.

- Reduce costs of textbooks. Asking for close to $100 for an introduction course is absurd. Better yet, could we make textbooks free?

- Decrease energy costs and go green. Upgrade buildings using Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design (LEED)-certified techniques. Then, immediately evacuate the Benson Building staff and treat them with legitimate academic facilities.

- Whatever happened to the Brain Train? The construction of a commuter rail from Athens to Atlanta would offer a safe and convenient ride for both students and professors.

- Guarantee child care is available to all. According to a campus-wide survey last spring, estimated building costs for an on-campus child care facility would be between $3.2 million and $3.7 million.

- Make it rain. Athens has been in a drought for quite a while, so bringing water into the county would help residents.

- Provide outreach to Athens-Clarke County. Clarke is one of the poorest counties in Georgia. With this kind of money, we could assist students in mentoring Athens' youth and provide services to the homeless.

- Set up more emergency call boxes on campus. The Sept. 15 attempted robbery on North Campus leaves us feeling a little jittery when we walk home at night. Although the University Web site states the campus is equipped with call boxes for reporting criminal activities and emergencies, most students are unaware of their locations. Let's get more of these boxes, make them easily identifiable and educate students about their locations.

- Place desk clerks in every dormitory. If the University is going to force freshmen to live on campus, it better provide adequate security for them, including those who live in the smaller dormitories. A desk clerk in Lipscomb Hall would also make that underage student think twice about waltzing in drunk at 3 a.m.

- Pay for sensitivity training for a certain University president. We think he could show a little more tact when speaking about those "unskilled workers" (the ones who clean our buildings, cook our meals and keep our campus looking beautiful) and stop treating Kappa Alpha as the administration's punching bag.

- Bail out Wall Street. According to our calculations, after we take care of everything on campus and in the surrounding community, we're left with close to $699 billion. We're sure U.S. Treasury Secretary Henry Paulson could put that money to good use in reviving our flagging economy.

- Jennifer Paxton and Drew Wheatley for the editorial board

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