SGA to speak out against tuition control

The Student Government Association will state an official position opposing the state legislature's control of tuition rates at tonight's meeting.

Last week, a resolution was proposed to the Senate by Senator Ben Wolff, an entrepreneurship and marketing sophomore, stating that the Board of Regents for Oklahoma A&M Colleges should remain in control of tuition rates.

Wolff said he read an article in The Daily O'Collegian regarding state legislators taking control of our tuition, and it sparked his interest in the matter.

"I just started emailing all of our senators, and the only one to respond was Jim Halligan," Wolff said. "He said to bring it up to SGA and get their opinion."

Senate Chair Justin Wheeler said the item was tabled last week so Senators could get a chance to speak to their constituencies about who they thought should be controlling student tuition rates, and to keep up with what the state legislature is doing. However, the decision is officially up to the state of Oklahoma, not OSU.

"If it passes (in SGA), it will say how we want it to be, that will just be the voice of OSU," Wheeler said.

Wolff said from what he understands, the majority of state legislators oppose this bill, including former OSU President Halligan.

"We are just supporting the majority of legislators," Wolff said. "Jim Halligan was Oklahoma State University's President from 1994 to 2007 — he understands how OSU works, and he is against it."

It is easy to get in contact with a Board of Regents member, Wolff said. They are appointed by the Governor specifically for OSU, so they do not use school tuition as a political tool.

"The Board of Regents knows exactly what is going on with OSU and what OSU needs to do to remain as successful as possible," Wolff said. "State legislators have many other responsibilities. It would be much more difficult for a student's voice to reach the State legislators; the Board of Regents has our best interest in mind."

Also in tonight's meeting, Senate member Stephen Rogers authored a bill which, if passed, will make changes in the election code, Title IV.

"If passed, the changes will not go into effect until the following year, so it wouldn't affect the election in March," Wheeler said.

There will also be a bill clarifying the duties for SGA treasurer. SGA President Ashley Leonard said they are going to change the bylaws so that treasurer Mackenzie McDaniel, and future treasurers, will report monthly instead of biweekly.

"She doesn't get reports from University Accounting frequently enough to report biweekly," Leonard said.

Senate will also have the opportunity to approve co-sponsorships for the Human Sciences Student Council, the Gamers of OSU and the Medieval Studies Group.

The SGA will meet tonight at 7.

Due to construction delays in the Student Union, and a previously scheduled meeting in Jones Hall the SGA will meet in Paul Miller room 101.