Seniors must pay for memories
Campus Times
February 21, 1997
Coming to a new school is always tough, but when you are a freshman
at college there are a few things that can help you assimilate to the hustle
and bustle. If you are a freshman or transfer at the University of La Verne
you have the opportunity to go on a overnight retreat to Pilgrim Pines.
And even through the trip for most is either memorable or utterly forgettable
it still is a big part of being a student at ULV.
Recall for a moment what that retreat consisted of: funny skits, bad
food, humorous karaoke, dirty forks, mandatory square dancing, no television,
a bonfire, and some letter about your major and where you wanted to be when
you returned your senior year.
Out of all those events, the letter you wrote to yourself is probably
going to be the one thing that lasts the longest, especially when you go
back to Pilgrim Pines as a senior. That is if you go back to Pilgrim Pines.
Actually that is if you decide to pay to go back to Pilgrim Pines.
Yes, pay to go back. Seniors may have to pay to go on senior retreat
this year. This may not be such a big issue to those of us that are not
yet seniors but for all those who have struggled through years of classes,
internship and senior projects, senior retreat is something well deserved.
Why, you may ask, do the seniors have to pay? The answer is because
of a lack of funds. The students in charge of planning and organizing the
senior retreat knew that the estimated total cost for the trip would begin
at about $2,700. The cost was averaged from last year's senior retreat that
consisted of the trip to Pilgrim Pines, room and board, and a t-shirt.
With this price in mind, the committee went to the Associated Student
Federation (ASF) Forum for money. ASF gave them $1,000. Well, that is $1,000
the senior retreat planners did not have, but that is still $1,700 short
of what they need for the trip.
So what if the seniors have to pay for senior retreat, that is no skin
off my back. Is that what you are thinking?
What will happen next year when the current juniors then to be seniors
plan a retreat? Will they get the money from ASF? Maybe or maybe not. It
must be the luck of the draw, which activity get the funds they need or
not.
It is possible for seniors to find another place to hold their retreat
that is within their budget, but what is the point of writing a letter in
your freshman year with thoughts of returning to Pilgrim Pines as a senior
only to end up somewhere else. If that is not the point, What is?
After all what kind of message are they sending to the future seniors,
and the students to come? We don't care about you after you've given us
all that money for four years?
Yeah, send us your check to Students Accounts, make sure you drop your
classes on time or else pay the $40, money money, money. Give us a break
already!
When ASF president Tracy Landisi began her office, she told the Campus
Times she said she wanted ASF to be more aimed at students' needs. If you
were a senior, contributing your student activity fee to ASF for the last
four years, wouldn't you consider your nostalgic trip back to Pilgrim Pines
more of a need than the ever favorite Lip Sync contest?
For some reason, ASF does not consider the senior retreat enough of
a student need. I suppose fancy decorations, party food and cutesy activities
take precedence over seniors returning back to Pilgrim Pines for the trip
they are entitled to.
As of this week, the Senior Retreat Committee is going to try to raise
the needed money for the retreat through donations from various departments.
How these departments will get the money to contribute to the seniors is
questionable.
Echelle Avelar, a sophomore journalism major, is news editor of the
Campus Times. She can be reached by e-mail at avelare@ulvacs.ulaverne.edu