Currently, the Student Activity Fee costs students $45 per semester. This sum is pooled for the purpose of funding Charted Student Organizations. As the number of CSOs increases and existing organizations demand more money, said SGA legislators, this fee must be increased.

The proposed increase for the student activity fee is sensible. Starting the year after next, should this referendum pass, the fee will be $55 per semester. After that, it will automatically increase by 5 percent each year. Some senators complain that students will not agree to pay more money out of pocket; that the fee will spiral out of control in a decade or two; and that SGA already has a pot of unspent money that could be used before raising student fees.

These concerns, though valid, are nothing to worry about. If interest rates compare to this January’s rate of inflation (nearly 4.3 percent), this increase will be nominal. This plan will keep SGA from panicking and increasing the activity fee more than it should be increased, as happened in the 1990s. Plus, a new caveat ensures that the finance committee will have to re-examine the fee each year, and will have the ability to change the fee and the automatic increase. As long as students stay abreast of increasing fees and know when to say when, this referendum is a go.