Bus wraps criticized without economic understanding

Editor:

I have been attending WSU for going-on six years now and I am proud of the new wrappings on the transit buses. Saying that the administration has inappropriately used university funding for this project, while a good concern to have as a student, is unfounded and illogical.
When outside parties donate money, they tell the administrators where they would like their money to be spent. If donated money is intended to be used in one area, then the administrators must spend it there. An analogy to this is public taxes. In Pullman, when you pay property tax, sales tax, utility tax or buy building permits, a portion of this money goes toward the city of Pullman general fund. However, when you fill up your car, the gas tax goes toward the city of Pullman street fund. This street fund money is not allowed to be spent generally by Pullman on things like libraries, Pullman Police Department, Pullman Fire Department or Parks and Recreation, but it must be spent on street maintenance and improvement.
Spending the allocated funds in different areas is not only morally wrong, but also illegal. So before you complain that WSU is improperly spending money on unnecessary projects, take some time to think about where that money is actually coming from.

Curtis Maddex
graduate student, electrical engineering