CAMPUS ACTIVITY COSTS DESERVE CLOSER SCRUTINY

A University of Missouri curator, John "Woody" Cozad of Platte City, has created a stir among some of the university's faculty because he has requested a rundown on all guest speakers at the system's four campuses this year. He also asked for details on the funding of student organizations. The requests riled some campus factions who suggest it could breed censorship.

It's amazing how such a simple request can create such a fuss. Cozad's appeal is a valid one. The public has a right to know how its state-funded institutions are operating. Public accountability has become essential in these tight budget times.

Specifically, Cozad has asked for a list of outside speakers who have appeared or will appear on campus this year, their topics, sponsors, fees and expenses, and the sources of funds used to pay or reimburse them. The curator also wants to know details on how and in what amounts student fees were distributed to campus organizations.

University of Missouri faculty members have voiced concern and puzzlement over the issue, with some even raising the specter of Joseph McCarthy and the investigation of suspected communists in the 1950s.

What happens on university campuses is of concern to us all, not just to the academic community.

When public colleges and universities in the state, including Southeast Missouri State University, are raising student fees and complaining about limited state funding, it seems appropriate to ask what the money is going for.

Speakers cost money, and funding of college organizations is not a bake-sale proposition these days.

Students at Southeast, for example, pay a $25 a seme~ster activity/athletic fee. Of the $25, $16 goes to help fund student organizations and $9 goes to athletics.

For the 1991-92 academic year, the $25 fee has generated $360,000, with $230,000 of that going to Student Government and student organizations. The money to organizations is distributed by Student Government.

Curators, boards of regents, taxpayers and students have a right to know how such money is being spent on Missouri's college campuses. Cozad's request is one that could well be asked at every one of the state's publicly funded colleges and universities.

The issue is not one of censorship, but of good stewardship.