Each semester white envelopes enclosed with statements to drain bank accounts arrive at the doors of Pace students. The flat rate of tuition is accompanied by other mandatory student dues like transportation, meal plan money and other miscellaneous standard fees. Together the charges amount to an alarming $52,000 per person per year for  Westchester students, who compliantly sign the dotted line and pray that the education is worth the investment.

“The Ann & Alfred Goldstein Fitness Center is in dire need of a permanent upgraded audio system to replace the current inadequate, outdated one, and to eliminate the need for frequent lease of the same from external vendors,” stated Student Government Association’s Vice President of Administration Harrison Davies in a request to the Oversight Committee for the Student Technology Fee.

The Oversight Committee is made up of a representative from each of the five schools at Pace, as well as two student members from each of the undergraduate campuses and graduate campus in White Plains.

The purpose of the committee is to manage Pace’s Student Technology Fee, which is paid for through student tuition. Most of the funds go to maintaining current systems but what’s leftover is used on new initiatives decided by the committee, such as a sound system.

But is the installation of a new sound system in the gym really where Pace should be allotting its money, rather, our money?

To many, the installation, which was approved on Feb. 13, may seem as if it is only going to further drain the students’ monetary funds. In actuality, the investment will allow for better utilization of the student technology fee.

“We’re putting our technology fee towards the same rented sound system each year,” said senior political science major and Student Government Association President Melanie Londono. “Buying our own, upgraded audio system leaves more room for different expenditures.”

Instead of allocating money towards the same costly expenses, Pace is expected to save between $50,000 and $80,000 per year just by purchasing the system alone. Due to mass savings the extra money in the technology account will be put towards the necessities that will best benefit the student body. However, some students still feel that other aspects of campus technology should be prioritized.

“I believe that we could use our technology fees for more relevant investments,” said junior information technology major and management minor Gina Pitorre. “It’s an unnecessary investment because the students should be able to benefit directly from our own funds.”

Allocation of money is a touchy subject due to costly tuition fees. Those who identify with Pitorre likely wonder why Pace seems to want to meet the needs of the community before the necessities of the students.

“The audio system that is presently in place at Goldstein is the original since the Fitness Center’s inception of 2001,” stated Davies’ request. “This system has largely under-performed; consequently it has been deemed insufficient by the Pace community for a multitude of events that are held on a regular basis in the fitness center’s gymnasium.”

The Westchester community at large, in holding events such as wrestling tournaments and robotic conventions has also utilized the Fitness Center’s facilities. The upcoming installation will help to better enhance the appeal of the gymnasium’s amenities to the Pace and Westchester communities at large.

“Pace should be better known for academics as opposed to a sound system,” argued Pitorre. “There are many other academic areas which are just as outdated as the audio system.”

Pitorre makes a valid point. But in addition to the university’s gains, students will also be able to achieve beneficial enhancements in relevant technological areas.

“We now have to decide what we want to put the money towards,” said Londono. “New computers in the library and iPads available for rent are possibilities.”

In fact, thanks to a recent proposal by another member of the Pace University Community, the Westchester Campus was able to purchase a cart of iPads, which will, in the very near future, begin to be brought to classes and meetings to bring a more practical and efficient use of technology to the students.

The technological renovation to the Fitness Center that is intended to occur this semester is expected to leave more money to be spent on other expenses for the Student Body and University Community. With prospects of a more innovative campus on the rise, students can begin to consider what it is that the fund should be allotted to.

Those self-parking cars do look kind of cool.