Students, Administrators Discuss Rising Tuition

Dialogue Intended to Bring Transparency; Some Questions Left Unanswered

By Aaron T. Rose
Editor-in-Chief

Tuition will continue to increase an average of six percent per year. This and other financial issues were on the agenda when students and administrators shared dinner and discussion in Somers Main Lounge on Tuesday evening during an open dialogue on rising tuition and room and board costs.
After a short introduction by Dean of Students Steve Lyons and a prayer by Beth Domholdt, Vice President of Academic Affairs, the roughly 30 students and 10 administrators were invited to eat.
Dinner was followed by presentations from Student Senate President Alissa Kaake, Student Trustee Andrew Hadrich and Student Senate Administrative Vice President Kyle Hefner.
Kaake introduced the

presentations and showed a PowerPoint slide listing reasons why many students at the school think that tuition is on the rise. Items on the list included the addition of a football team; the yearly increase in the size of freshman classes; and money needed to stay competitive with other Minnesota Private colleges.
Hadrich followed with concerns specific to tuition. Concerns included an increase in Benedictine Scholarships for first year students not received by upperclassmen; a “lock in” rate that would keep tuition the same for each student for four years; whether tuition increases reflect an increase in academic quality; and whether or not an end to the six percent yearly tuition increase is in sight.
“I know it produces a lot of resentment,” Hadrich said of a freeze on Benedictine Scholarships. “Some

President Larry Goodwin addresses students and administration at Tuesday night’s dialogue on tuition and room and board prices. Photo by Aaron T. Rose

Ness Defeats Bell in Tight Race

By Robert Lillegard
Staff Writer

Don Ness won Duluth’s highest office Tuesday—with only 26 percent of possible votes. The reason? Only 50 percent of eligible voters went to the polls, according to the Duluth News Tribune. Of those that voted, a 52 percent majority voted for the young city councilor, with the rest supporting community activist and business leader Charlie Bell. Most students interviewed voted for Ness—if they voted at all.
“I actually didn’t pay any attention to it,” sophomore Tom Kelly said.
Kelly, a Business Management major, is not from

Duluth, and said the election wasn’t important to him. Junior nursing major Caitlyn Leveille felt the same way. “I don’t know the election results,” Leveille said. “My life is basically like school.”
The apathy wasn’t just a matter of age. School carpenter Ron Lillo also didn’t vote, and said the election was just politics as usual.
“I don’t trust any of them,” Lillo said. “It just didn’t matter a whole lot to me.”
For students who did vote, Ness was the favorite. Those who watched the live debate were impressed by the UMD graduate’s ability to connect with the common people.
“He’s a young person,”

Don Ness celebrates his mayoral victory last Tuesday night. He beat Charlie Bell by a four percent margin. Photo courtesy of www.duluthnewstribune.com