Kent State doesn’t deserve $25 a night

Dear editor,

I was shocked when I heard that students had to pay $25 a night to stay in their dorm rooms during spring break. How insane is this?

If a student doesn’t have plans for break or family nearby, it is going to cost them more than $200 to live in a room they have already paid for.

What is being done about this atrocity? Shouldn’t someone call John Stossel to do a “Fleecing of America” special? Am I the only one appalled by this? I think the students should all band together and protest in Risman Plaza. It may take sleeping outside to prove the point; maybe carry signs that read “$25 a night to fund the president’s salary” or “Imagine a campus that cares.” Or how about, “When you can’t squeeze any more money, will you take my first born?” Or finally, “Paying for legal services I can’t use against the university: $7 a semester; Staying in my dorm room: $25 a night; Knowing my college thoroughly ripped me off: Priceless.”

This money certainly isn’t going to the hardworking Residence Services staff, the ones who really deserve it; the people who make sure the rooms are clean and in good working order. I can’t believe there hasn’t been more outrage throughout campus about this. Is the student body going to just lie down and take this? If so, I have an idea: I’ll only charge $15 a night to stay at my place, and for an extra $5 I’ll include dinner. Remember that for next year.

Jennifer Anders

Senior finance major

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Racism at local school hurts more than students

Dear editor,

Recent incidents of racist behavior at Theodore Roosevelt High School are a warning sign!

As a native African-American resident of Kent who was born and educated here and whose legacy is a long bloodline of pioneers who fought racism to build a foundation in which African-Americans could come to Kent and benefit from its excellent schools and rich resources, I was disturbed, but not surprised, at this most recent outbreak. “Racism” has always existed in Kent and to deny it is to be delusional.

Could what occurred at RHS be the results of what happens when just a Band-Aid is applied to a wound that is allowed to fester? Sixteen years ago, when African-American children’s lockers were being set on fire and racist material distributed on RHS and Davey school campuses by “want to be” neo-Nazis, the administration’s response was to apply procedures and policies to control, but not to influence, behavior. There was no major public outcry from the African-American community and few African-American parents even bothered to attend the school board meeting to assist the few of us who were there to observe and draft at least a baseline for procedures and policies.

So now this ugly multi-headed hydra known as “racism” has morphed again, this time more bold. What will it morph into next if these forums just become a “venting session” and not realistic dialogue on racial tolerance and influencing constructive behavior modification for the general school and Kent community?

I am not a high school or university educator. My discipline is business system management. I have implemented systems for Fortune 500 companies nationally and internationally and have experienced and risen above the sting of racism and sexism. Kent schools should learn from executives of major corporation who observed teaching racial tolerance and behavior modification is good policy and a required business practice.

What happened at RHS is bad business for Kent Public Schools and the city of Kent.

Doria Daniels

Kent resident