EDITORIAL: Student dollars spent on students

General Fee budget shows the appropriate use of student tuition money. Almost half of the fee students pay with their tuition, is budgeted to the Office of the Vice Provost for University Life whose primary focus involves programs and services related to student activities. And the remainder of the $28,159,680 is doled out among several beneficial student programs such as Student Financial Services, the Athletic Department and the Office of International Programs for Study Abroad. With most of student money going towards student services, the allocations disclosed seem to be legitimate. And the data doesn't seem to involve detailed personal salaries that administrators previously said would complicate the release. That being the case, while compilation of the data probably took some leg work, there was no reason the University couldn't have released General Fee distribution numbers when student leaders first asked two years ago. But now that the administrators have presented the breakdown, student leaders are wrongly dissatisfied. SAC has gotten its answer and shouldn't pursue the General Fee issue as if the University were conspiring to keep student funds from student use. The numbers demonstrate that the General Fee is not being misused by administrators. It could be argued that some programs are getting a little more funding than others, but the Office of Budget and Management Analysis is not responsible for the individual departments' budgets. As long as the General Fee is allocated for student programs and services then it's obviously being put to good use.