I am writing the Independent today to discuss the impoverishing practices that take place here at NEIU. I must ask, are we truly a just and progressive institution if we charge our students unnecessarily with neither the intention to pay students back nor the option of opting out of these unnecessary charges and services? 

I recognize that in our capitalistic economy, every business needs to make money, but does NEIU need to extort their students in order to keep the doors open? Built into the tuition is the CTA U-Pass, and while that may seem helpful, students with access to personal transportation are still forced to pay for a service they do not use, and I wonder how else NEIU steals from its students.

With the lack of response students seem to be receiving from the financial office, it seems that NEIU students have a grim financial future here at this institution. If NEIU wanted to truly cater to their students they could sell vacant surrounding properties that were seized due to eminent domain. Students could have the opportunity to opt out of unnecessary charges, and not have to pay for simple things like plastic eating utensils in the student cafeteria.