Now, I’m new here.

Yet, the last time I checked, most of us college students had some sense of financial understanding.

We have to: books, tuition, room/board, alcohol and condoms. I mean, the Ball State lifestyle can be quite expensive. (Your mileage may very with the last two.)

We’re budget tight-wads by nature: but I don’t need to explain this, as it’s a given.

So, why in the world are off in our penny-pinching minds thinking that we can get away with funding a new student center.

We bitch about parking increases, let alone money for a new center.

I’ll admit, the students here have been put through quite the number of experiences this year… and perhaps we deserve a little pat on the back.

I repeat: a pat on the back.

Still, we should really take advantage of what we have first.

It’s ever so ironic to me that we’re petitioning for a new center of student involvement, when our student involvement is all but existent.

I speak of involvement not in our organizations, leadership groups, or media outlets, although there are many good souls involved in each.

I speak of campus involvement period. “Spirit” is what I think they called it back in the day.

Walk around other campuses across this nation for a day, and you’ll see an abundance of school-related appeal, helping to keep the campus spirit alive…regardless of the school’s athletics.

Look at IU’s football team.

Too often here at Ball State do I see students walking around with hats and clothes sporting the name and logos of random universities throughout the country, although mostly big ten schools like Purdue and Indiana are featured.

Ask that soul why they are wearing a hat from a university other than the one they attend, and they’ll say, “I like the school’s sports teams.”

To me, I only hear, “Well, I wasn’t good enough to get in there.”

Keep looking, and you’ll see a student body stand unconditionally behind their school.

Be it a shooting, a resigning, an election or worse; students go about their daily lives, but pull together in campus spirit.

More importantly, you’ll a see a (slightly) larger percentage of students care about the effects of such circumstances; even more so than the cause.

And with one final look, you’ll see a student body stay at their school for an entire weekend.

Wow – what a novel idea.

Sure, you get the occasional travel-lover shipping off, but for the most part, students go away to school and stay away at school.

Here at Ball State, especially on the weekends, we’re lucky to keep half the student population in Muncie, let alone interested in doing something on campus.

We’re going to need a little more than a handful of students, SGA included, to back up a project as massive of a new student center; especially after having just cut three sports teams, and decreased funding for other sports.

Hell – we’re still looking for a President.

Perhaps SGA would be better suited on efforts to get our students involved, even if that means, god forbid, working with other student organizations to do so.

Perhaps it would be wise for us students to pay attention to what’s going on, and actually make an effort to get involved… on campus.

You want a new student center?

How about new students?