I carried my own chair into the already cramped president’s conference room and took a seat so close to the chairman that I almost sat in front of the same table he did. “I don’t see a great controversy here,” board member Bruce Warshal said, but you had to be blind to miss it.

The steady stream of attendees filling the room made it clear that students are willing to get off their butts and out of bed, before mid-day at that, to rally against tuition increases. But there was little lobbying on students’ behalf.

For what seemed like an eternity, the Board of Trustees and vice-chairman Norman Tripp discussed what was to be discussed. Fifteen more minutes dragged by while board members took their turn asking what the goal of the meeting was, just for clarification. In a nostalgic way they reminded me of those students in ENC 1101 who keep asking the professor if they have to double space their essay.

Student Body President Pablo Paez managed to argue a couple of points on the students’ behalf during the meeting. At the same time, President Catanese and Tripp did their best to make sure no one took him seriously. Each time he spoke their aim was to remind the rest of the committee that Paez is just another kid that has no idea what he’s talking about.

Paez wasn’t flustered and because he does know what he’s talking about he gained the support of board member Jorge Dominicis. Paez prepared two handouts-one showed the committee exactly what FAU students would have to write into their checkbooks each semester, the other showed FAU having the second highest tuition among all Florida universities.

For a second, it looked like the committee members might decide against their greedy measures in light of these facts, but Catanese quickly curbed that notion by pointing out that FAU only looks like it has the highest fees. By calling attention to the fact that all universities have hidden fees (the catch is we do too), he instantly shot down the most credible argument that Paez, that all of us, had.

While Paez’s suggestions were demeaned the rest of us (students) waited politely as we could. We fiddled our fingers, stifled our cynical laughter, and shrugged our shoulders, waiting for the moment when we could tell off the men and woman who were turning our chance at higher education into their business practice. That chance came and went faster than most of us speed past yellow lights.

Graduate student Roger Sambrook spoke first and every international student should send him a thank you card. If it weren’t for Sambrook the committee may never have realized that the $1.4 million revenue the tuition increase generates will never directly benefit international students. Sure, the extra $1,700 per student per year may help keep the library updated, but as Sambrook said, international students aren’t eligible for any of the scholarships the proposed increase would make possible.

Tripp wasn’t swayed by Sambrook’s observation and he did his best to make sure nobody else on the board was. He spouted off a worn-out idea: More money will make a stronger university, generate a better education, and make an FAU degree all the more reputable. “It takes money,” was his defense and an inventory of the committee members’ faces proved that most of them agreed.

Undergraduate student Dan Restrepo spoke next, and had I owned one of those soft Nerf-balls, I would have stuck a rock in it and then thrown it at him. After Restrepo essentially called the board members idiots and wrongly accused them of wasting 7.1 million on a football team Tripp abruptly closed the discussion time.

I was so busy picking my jaw up off the ground that I missed most of the room’s reaction to Restrepo’s speech. I know that Tripp didn’t even bother embarrassing him, there was no need. He simply defended the patriotism of football by reminiscing of his glorious college years which in turn gave him the leverage he needed to pull rank like you’re father does whenever he’s losing a debate. “I’ve been here 40 years, and I don’t think you’ve been here 40 years because you’re not that old,” Tripp said.

With his authority reestablished Tripp denied any other students, including Senate Speaker Nick Kalman, who had his hand visibly raised, the chance to persuade the committee.

In the end the board members were eating out of Catanese’s hands, clueless as a flock of sheep, forgetting the possibility that students could know what’s best for the university. But good old Dominicis took the role of black sheep and joined Paez in objecting to the full tuition increase. You don’t need me to tell you two against four doesn’t exactly rock the vote, but I can’t resist telling you how four of the board members were all too happy to spit out their yeas and reject the friendly amendment.

I won’t say the students’ efforts were useless, but during the conference call on June 24 only Paez voted against the full tuition increase Not even Dominicis voted against it. The member’s minds were set before discussing the issue: tuition increases are for the students’ best and as students we just can’t see it.

I only hope that Catanese will keep his promise to form a one-half student advisory board. Even if the raise is only “eight bucks a week” as Warshal says, students deserve to advise where the $1.4 million will be spent, that is, if we can’t avoid forking it over.