I understand that Cornerstone is doing everything in their power to get their own budget under control and to deal with the difficulties of our present economy without causing any immediate or intense strain on anyone. I actually commend some of the efforts that they intend to implement.

 However, I do not understand why commuters are going to be charged more than residential students. To paraphrase Nancy Schoonmaker, commuters are less involved on campus and therefore will be expected to contribute to the campus through their pocketbooks rather than their time. I find this particularly interesting considering that commuters – being apparently less involved – will also receive less of the benefits which these fees will afford.

 For the past four years, I have been constantly involved in this campus. I have given a great amount of my time and energy to this community. And now that I have decided it will be more beneficial to my current situation (being off campus most of next year due to internships and student teaching), I feel as though I am being wrongfully punished for my decision.

 Granted, I will be minimally involved on campus next year. I won’t have time for a campus job. I won’t have time for student government. I may not even have time for chapel. And I certainly won’t have time to partake in the new twenty-five campus meals I will be paying for. But because I have chosen to specifically focus on my academic field and future career, I will be expected to contribute more financially (which will be all the more difficult considering my lack of time for a job).

 My main question: Where is the focus of our campus?

 I admit that it is good and right for us to be focused on the community of our campus. But it is also good and right for us to focus on the purpose of attending college. Students should not be punished for taking on internships or full-time jobs, for trying to be good stewards of their money, or even for living with their parents. As a university who is fostering the abilities of young adults to be leaders in this world, students should be encouraged to inch towards the independence of adulthood. If, however, we are discouraged from growing up and out of this community, we will find ourselves lost immediately after graduation. We will fall on our faces because you discouraged us from finding new communities and making adult decisions.

 I beg you: teach us to grow up. Teach us how to be adults in this world. Allow us to test those behaviors while we still have the opportunity to fall back into this loving community. And don’t punish us for being mature enough to make adult decisions. We may still be growing, be we are adults too. Please, treat us with respect.