Small hike in laundry prices can make a big impact
By Tara King
E ven the least observant individual couldn't miss the gigantic crater currently sitting between Benson Memorial Center and the Automated Retrieval System.
But, crater aside, there are other more subtle changes around campus that still have an effect on student convenience.
Take, for example, a look at the laundry, where the price of on-campus laundry machines has been raised from 75 cents per wash or dry to a dollar.
A 50 cent increase to both wash and dry may not seem very substantial. After all, on-campus residents are often still paying less than peers who are living off campus or go to other colleges.
Yet the fact remains that tuition, plus room and board at Santa Clara, falls around $41,280 per year.
The Santa Clara web site boasts that 71 percent of undergraduates receive financial aid to help meet tuition costs.
With this in mind, why burden 71 percent of the student population with a two dollar charge to wash and dry a single load? And, with the cost of tuition, why would this additional charge be necessary?
A mere half dollar can add up to a significant amount of money over time. Santa Clara is full of students striving to make a difference in the world. To these students, a small amount of money can go a long way.
Just 65 cents donated to Newborns in Need can be used to purchase baby bottles, scratch mittens, baby wipes and other items.
Thirty dollars donated to the Heifer Project can be used towards the purchase of livestock to help sustain a family in need around the world - whether it be the share of a goat or a hive of honeybees, it can make a difference.
With access to, say, a flock of chicks, families receive a consistent source of protein, and extra chicks and eggs can be sold for profit.
Fifteen dollars donated to the Christian Children's Fund can be used to provide baby formula for an infant in Zimbabwe.
A mere $18 gives young children in Ethiopia and Republic of The Gambia mosquito nets to prevent malaria.
Global Giving, a company that helps to raise money for healthcare, the environment and education, provides safe drinking water to people worldwide. A donation of only $12 will supply safe drinking water to an elementary school in India for four months.
A Santa Clara education calls for students to look beyond themselves. It encourages students to strive to be the change that they wish to see in the world.
I acknowledge that not every student is willing to save laundry money to make small donations. But the students that do make this choice have the opportunity to change the lives of others.
The point of this article is not that the extra 50 cents would definitely contribute towards charities if the laundry charges were not increased.
The point is to remind all of us that we can make a difference in the world. Maybe the $12 cannot provide school children safe water for a lifetime, but it can provide them with four months of a more vibrant life. Maybe a flock of chicks won't pull a family out of poverty, but it can give life back to a child that previously went hungry.
It is easy to get disillusioned with the world. It is easy to turn one's back on millions of people in pain because the task to rebuild seems impossible. But small changes can make a difference. Maybe millions of lives cannot be saved. However, the greatest tragedy is when one life is lost due to apathy.
Tara King is a senior political science major.