Frivolous or Frugal?

Where is Our Parents’ Tuition Money Really Going?

Dorian McCarroll, Staff Writer

 

$14,250. That was the tuition price for my freshman year here at Brebeuf. If the tuition stayed that price for all four years, that would equate to $57,000, but it has not stayed constant. Over the course of my almost four years here, tuition has consistently increased, and I am wondering what the extra money is being used for.

I have noticed that in basically every newly renovated room here there are two plasma screen televisions and a projector. The only class of mine that uses both the television and the projector is math, and that is so everyone in the class can see the notes. Otherwise, having more than one T.V. seems kind of pointless.

Since the price of attending Brebeuf is steadily increasing, why has the administration not fixed the parts of the school that are in the most need? For example, the girls’ bathroom in the art wing is in dire need of some love. There is literally a stall with the door hanging off its hinges, which slightly inhibits total privacy when using the restroom.

Another area of Brebeuf that would definitely benefit from the extra cash would be the parking lot. If I have to swerve to avoid ten potholes every morning, there is a problem. It gets especially tricky when it rains in the morning and it seems as though I have to drive through a small pond to get to my parking space.

In the spring when insects are running rampant outside, they always seem to find their way indoors. Senior Emory Peacher was walking by the athletic hallway locker rooms when she saw the biggest cockroach known to its species. She would like to see some money go to insect pest control for our school so she can walk the halls without fear of being eaten alive.

Some athletes here also have early practices or late nights after a game and have to use the showers in the locker rooms in the basement below the fitness center. Devin Wright ‘16 tells of numerous times when she had to do this and describes how the shower curtains do not fully close. This, obviously, causes a bit of an uncomfortable situation when 10+ girls are in that same space at the same time.

Don’t get me wrong: I love that Brebeuf is sprucing up the place. But I just feel like they could be spending our tuition dollars on more important things. Things like better food in the cafeteria, or pest control, or giving more money to each grades’ budget for the year instead of buying 52” T.V.s.

My question is this: where is all of this money going? I know that some of the budget went to the library renovation, which is understandable. Why we are not privy to all of the things the school is spending money on? Obviously, school upkeep costs and equipment for sports teams use a fraction of the total sum, but why can’t we know everything about our school’s expenditures?

It just makes me wonder what the tuition is going to be ten years from now and whether or not the classes will actually be using both plasma screens AND the projectors.