The old tax-and-waste DSG

It's time for a new Duke Student Government that's fiscally responsible. The DSG's "Big Three" of projects they plan to fund with the activity fee increase all seem to be extravagant wastes of money meant to make DSG look better instead of actually helping out the student body. First, DSG's low-cost attorney proposal is simply a program that will make the vast majority of students subsidize the mistakes of a few individuals. Second, the bus-tracking system is unnecessary. It's hard not to find a C-1 on either East or West campus during school hours and in case no one's noticed, the bus schedule is easily accessible and accurate. How about we save $79,000 and instead just print up some laminated schedules for everyone. Finally, our favorite proposal: ZipCars. Has social interaction fallen so much at Duke that students these days no longer have friends to bum rides from? And do we really need 10 cars? UNC only has four ZipCars on campus and last we checked Duke has less than half the number of undergraduates. Rice has two, Vanderbilt has five and the University of Miami only has three. We would love to know how DSG came up with the idea that Duke could support 10 cars.

What stands out most is that this seems to be an initiative led by seniors who are going to pass on the cost of their proposals. DSG seems obsessed with "leaving a mark" regardless of how many students it actually benefits. Perhaps we should focus on fixing existing facilities on campus, such as actually putting nets on the Central tennis courts, instead of introducing new and unnecessary programs. When the cost of education is rapidly outpacing inflation, we would hope our own student leadership refrains from adding to this burden. Instead, how about DSG focuses on getting the most out of their current budget?

Vote no on the DSG referendum Sept. 15.

Tristan Patterson

Trinity '09

Haoming Wang

Trinity '09