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The class of 2012 has an ACT average of 24.4 and 62 percent are residing in university housing. They are also the largest freshmen class for the University of Louisville.

As U of L welcomed them to their new home this weekend, their predecessors have a new campus this fall.

This summer’s changes of faces, places and spaces at?U of L could give the latter?whiplash.

The lists of adjustments are longer than the allegations of former College of Education and Human Development’s Dean Robert Felner.

?According to the massive press coverage, Felner embezzled money, besides having a lengthy history of not being the best person to work with. He’s to blame for the bad press but not for the changes all around campus.

The changes include: new food service provider Sodexo Operations, Inc., which replaced Chartwell’s. Commuter Student Services has closed due to budget cuts. To purchase a Green Parking Permit, a student must have 90 credit hours instead of 60.?

For students returning, the changes may cause some confusion. For example, CSS was a place to watch TV, chat over microwaved lunches, run in and check email and collect student resources.

Students will make do as getting a higher education outweighs food choices and staff changes. If the students who commute to campus can adjust to gas prices, they can do anything, even though a junior still has to earn 30 more credit hours to get better parking.?

But tension will arise as the construction at Grawemeyer Hall’s entrance causes congestion near Third Street and Eastern Parkway, the walls in some of Davidson Hall’s rooms need painting and new desks, and CEHD’s future is on the line because of one man’s dishonesty.?

Budget cuts, tuition raises and the Board of Trustees are to blame. The university and its future should return to and be lead by the people who make it what it is; the students.

This is a window of opportunity to become political as in contact the Student Government Association, write to those people in Frankfort and most importantly – vote.

If the current and future seniors join forces and let their voices be heard, maybe tuition will stop increasing at the rate it has been increasing.

In spring 2008, several students took a stand.? In February, students and the leaders of the SGA traveled to Frankfort and rallied.? The following month, some student groups joined forces and walked out of their classrooms and protested in front of U of L President James Ramsey’s office building.

That same semester, U of L revealed a plan to become a top metropolitan research?university by 2020. This summer was a start.

They have a plan, it’s time to make your own and demand a better and more affordable college education.

? If the changes from spring 2008 to fall 2008 are this complex, imagine how it’s going to be for the freshmen who graduate in four, five or maybe six years.