Theft Indeed!

By Robert Schiener

There's been much attention paid to a proposition to add another mandatory fee to students' bursar bill which would allow unlimited access to the several buses which currently offer services via the benefits received principle. To some, it may seem as though the IUSA establishment is truly bending over back to add comfort and marginal benefits to the average IU student. To me, it seems as though the IUSA establishment is providing a mechanism by which IU can expand their stealing powers not already enumerated in the IU Student Handbook (e.g., setting of tuition, other mandatory fees, etc.). IUSA is a sickening example of implicit theft made legal since all students are mandated to pay for its functionality even though this organization yields a negative return to investment.

Last year, my frustration and intolerance for this bureaucracy grew to intolerable levels and I thus decided to seek its abolishment by running for Read Center Senator on the Vast Right Wing Conspiracy (VRWC). There were two other candidates representing the other two major party organizations. Although I received nearly 40% of the vote, I only came in second, and IUSA survived.

Unfortunately, IUSA has since threatened its "constituency" once again through the birth of a dictatorial proposition to steal more funds from the masses. I challenged IUSA, via the Campus Pulse, to statistically prove their claim that IU students favor their proposal instead of assuming (like they are) that a feel-good approach to campus bus service is necessarily equitable. As expected of any other bureaucracy, there was no response. In this light then, I completed the work for them and I even did it without "their" funding. The test below was completed recently in order to answer the following question regarding students' favorability of the proposed mandatory fee: With 95% confidence, what is the general feeling of IU students toward this recent proposition. The methodology and confidence interval lay below.

In this survey, I completed a simple random sample of 50 typical IU students (N = 50). The survey, which these students completed, asked a general question regarding their support for the campus-wide access to buses through a mandatory service fee. Students were told to rate their support by assigning a whole number from 1 to 100. The following gives general numerical assignment meanings: 1 = perfectly no support; 25 = below average support; 50 = average support; 75 = above average support; 100 = perfect support. (See bottom of page for actual text of survey question.)

Next, I gathered the data. I calculated the sample mean, sample standard deviation, and the critical values for the 95% confidence limits. Due to various constraints, I will not list all 50 responses, only the requisite summary statistics.

____

X » 32 (SAMPLE MEAN)

S_x » 18 (SAMPLE STANDARD DEVIATION)

N = 50 (SAMPLE SIZE)

2.546 » (ESTIMATED STANDARD ERROR OF MEAN)

a = .05 (SIGNIFICANCE LEVEL)

t_crit » ± 2.0096 (TRUE T-CRITICAL VALUES; TWO-TAILED)

LOWER LIMIT OF INTERVAL = [32 - (2.00096)(2.546)] = 26.906

UPPER LIMIT OF INTERVAL = [32 + (2.00096)(2.546)] = 37.094

My independent research yields us valuable insight into the lies yielded by IUSA. Before this study, I talked to many student government insiders and representatives to inquire about their thoughts regarding the popularity of this proposal. Most, if not all of them, retorted with the following: "Our proposal is supported by the diverse community of IU since it will assist them with broad access to transportation that they might otherwise not afford." Oh my! A liberal, feel-good approach to transportation! I'm so excited! And the fact is, their opinion is nearly proven to be WRONG!

Thus, if indeed this mandatory fee is passed by the hierarchy of IU, it is a clear example that theft of the IU student body does exist. For those who never ride the bus (such as myself), our economic freedom will be negatively abridged. I have always felt a compelling need to apprehend any and all bank robbers, especially those who steal my "demand deposits" at the local bank. Yet, I need not fill myself with optimistic hopes that the IU/IUSA Bank Robber will be caught anytime soon since implicit theft has been legalized by the bureaucratic elite. This is a sad, but true premise.

(This is a false advertisement; all rights reserved, Robert T. Schiener)

Actual survey text:

"Recently, members of the student government and others above them have considered a proposal which would allow any student to ride the various bus services at any time for a minimum fee of $58 to $70 depending on class standing. Currently, it now costs a student $164 a year for a Bloomington pass and $190 for a campus pass, with a total cost of $354. The new proposal would reduce this cost by $284. What is your general support level for this proposal on a scale of 1 to 100. A score of 1 would indicate total disapproval for the plan; 25 would indicate below average support; 50 would indicate average support; 75 would equal above average support; and 100 would indicate total support for this plan. What is your support level?"