![]() | The Cavalier daily Tuesday, March 23 | ![]() |
Letters To The Editor
Student Lambastes Activity Fee
This letter is written in order to
question the economic system
under which The Cavalier Daily is
supplied to students.
Under the present system all
students are required to pay a tax
(the Comprehensive Fee) at the
beginning of each semester. Part of
this tax goes to the student
government which in turn budgets
part of its revenue to the
newspaper. One problem with this
system is that even if a student does
not want to buy the paper, he is
forced to do so. Individuals' liberty,
therefore, is unnecessarily infringed
upon.
I would like to make the radical
proposal that an alternative
economic system be considered,
that is, the system of anarchy, the
market. Under such a system if a
student does not think the paper is
worth its price, he would not be
forced to buy it. If, however, the
paper is worth what it costs to
produce, those individuals who
want to could purchase it.
While this analysis is not a
detailed one and has been limited
to the newspaper, I think that the
question it raised has wider
application to other matters such as
the policy on athletic tickets.
What I would like to know here,
however, is why you chose to
operate under a system that
unnecessarily inhibits individual
choice?
Shelton S. Schmidt
Grad. A & S I
(Your letter expresses a point of
view undoubtedly shared by a
sizeable portion of the student
body of the University. You pay
$3.60 a year for your subscription
to The Cavalier Daily, although you
have no choice in the matter.
Realistically, if the paper would
sold on the open market that cost
would rise fantastically because 1)
fewer people would subscribe and
2) the cost of hiring a circulation
staff to deliver the newspaper to
those who have paid for it would be
high.
![]() | The Cavalier daily Tuesday, March 23 | ![]() |