Problems are becominr more apparent

Last year as a freshman I would overhear upperclassmen complain about BU’s administration and remember thinking, “God, it’s not that bad.” But as I spend more and more time at the university I find myself agreeing with those who have come before me. A few events that have transpired over the last two days have prompted me to voice this feeling in hopes that it will find an audience. The first was a front page article printed in Wednesday’s edition of the Free Press entitled, “Silber’s salary more than area presidents.'” I find it unbelievable that his salary is so high: $475,000 plus $224,424 in benefits, according to the article. That’s a total of $699,424 per year, which equals the tuition, room and board of almost 20 students, assuming they live in a regular dorm room and have the average priced meal plan. The article pointed out that BU forgave a $250,000 loan Silber owed for the year prior to the one in the figure given above. Will BU be forgiving any of my debt to the school upon graduation? I’m sure when I walk away with my BA in Journalism I won’t be making nearly as much as Mr. Silber does. (As a side note, I would like to point out to Anthony Pijerov, who made the statement, “in an attempt to look smart, which we all know is hard as a College of Communication student,” (Title IX a phony excuse for end to football, Dec. 3, pg. 7) the person whose argument he wrote in to support, Elliot Levy, is a COM student.) BU spokesman Kevin Carleton’s point that, “Silber is required to live on campus and thus the estimated value of housing is factored into the benefits,” also seems somewhat irrelevant. So maybe Silber doesn’t see almost $700,000 in cash every year. Are we supposed to be more understanding and accepting of his salary because he takes home “just” $475,000 without having the burden of a mortgage payment? I’m paying $5,620 to live in one room with three other students. All four of us are very displeased with our current living situation and have made several efforts to find a way out. Today one of my roommates and I went to the Office of Housing to beg for someone to hear us out. However, when we arrived at the office the person in charge of such matters was conveniently not in. We instead had a receptionist give us what sounded like a memorized speech on our “options,” which basically was to fill out some impersonal form. Even when we looked at her and told her we were miserable and desperate for a change she simply insisted there was nothing that could be done. That disconnected administration I used to somewhat sympathize with? As I spend more and more time at this school I learn that it sadly is a fact. I find it troublesome that I can admit to being miserable in some situation without finding a single person who is willing to listen. It is obvious that this is a serious concern among students, yet it appears that nothing is being done to remedy it. As I have already stated, we pay a lot of money to attend this school. Yes, choosing to attend a college is an individual decision and everyone here chose BU. But I made that decision without having been given an accurate portrayal of the school when I came to visit my senior year in high school. Maybe we should paint a clearer picture for prospective students so they can know what they are getting into and leave less room for complaint once they are enrolled here. Let them speak to students who will give an honest account of student life. Tell them exactly what the guest policy is. Inform them of the problem that currently exists between administration and students. Why isn’t this done? Because it would deter future students; I certainly may have chosen another university over this one. But the fact that these issues are not mentioned only proves that problems do exist and something needs to be done remedy them. The first step is to improve the relationship between students and the administration so a more open and active forum can exist between the two. I know this is a large school but that does not mean students should be treated as faceless individuals or numbers or, perhaps more appropriately, dollar signs. We deserve some individual attention, we are entitled to it, and at the moment none exists. Nicole Gonzalez COM ’05