Letter to the Editor (1)

To Boston Globe in response to "http://www.boston.com/bostonglobe/editorial_opinion/oped/articles/2010/02/07/the_price_of_umass_law_school/".

As a Massachusetts resident, I closely followed the University of Massachusetts Dartmouth’s plan to acquire the Southern New England School of Law. As a student at the University of Massachusetts Amherst, I look at this plan and see a huge burden on future students interested in attending the new law school. Student fees at UMass have increased every year since I began attending this University in 2008. The campus here in Amherst has been established since 1863 and is always undergoing change. There are constantly new projects and improvements being made to areas on campus, some of which I have never even set foot on.

As a member of the UMass community, I fully support the attempts this University partakes in to make higher education affordable for everyone. But as the article states the idea of trying to transform the already under-par Southern New England School of Law will be a daunting task for a University already struggling to keep affordable higher education within reach. Just ask UMass Amherst alum Ken Feinberg, “pay czar” for the Obama administration, if he thinks this process will go according to plan.

Something tells me he might say no.

Why I chose this article:

I chose to react to this article because the activities of this University are very important in my life. I like to keep up with what’s happening in regards to my education and see how the University plans on improving upon it. I first heard of the University’s plan to try and open a public law school a few months back and since then have been following the periodic updates about the process when they surfaced here and there.

I really liked this Op-Ed piece because it really showed just how flawed the plan is in regards to trying to keep education at all the UMass campuses affordable. I couldn’t help but agree with everything said in the article. Ever since I first caught wind of what the University was planning to do I was very suspicious of how they were going to actually make it happen. As a resident of Massachusetts I care about exactly what me and my parents’ tax money is being used for. If it’s going toward a project that has no chance of success then I feel like more people should know about the University’s plan and should contribute their opinions on the matter.

Jeff Jacoby hit the nail on the head with everything he said. Much like him, I absolutely support the idea of a public law school. Coming from a family that has always been faced with economic struggles I am a huge supporter of affordable high education. But the fact of the matter is that the University’s claim that this entire project will be paid for by taxpayers’ money is outrageous. And I felt the Globe should know how I felt.