2008 Woodie Awards
Editorial:
Issue date: 9/8/05 Section: Opinion
- Page 1 of 1
Students need a break - Gasoline prices causing more stress on campus
With gas prices rising faster than the water in New Orleans, college students are digging deep into their pockets.
When the staff decided to write an editorial on gas prices, gas was $2.58 a gallon. As this is written, gas is $2.99.
Hurricane Katrina ensures us that the price won't be going down anytime soon. Instead, it has caused it to rise 40 cents in the past month.
The price for gas is higher in the smaller towns, causing more stress on the budgets of the out-of-district students who drive the farthest.
For college students who drive from area towns to class two to three times a week, gas is costing around $40 a week just for a gas-saving car.
"I just spent $90 filling up my Tahoe, and I have to fill it up once a week," said Ashley Torres, a business major.
Not only does the gas hurt our pocket books, but it also affects the economy, causing towns that are dependent on tourism and travelers to fall into a local recession.
It also is causing us to spend money on gas rather than clothes, toys and other luxuries.
Although Amarillo does have some of the lowest prices in the nation, Malibu, Calif., is charging $3.19 a gallon, New York residents are paying about $3.60 a gallon and drivers from the Hurricane areas - Mississippi, Alabama, and Louisiana - are paying just under $6 a gallon. Although we have lower gas prices, we also have a lower cost of living, which means we make less (wages) then the other cities. It all evens out.
Besides the much larger gasoline bill, we are paying to drive back and forth to be successful; we also are paying absurd prices for books and working only part-time to have time to study.
Scholarships help, and most of us do get student loans to lighten the load, but there still is the gas.
If you live within walking or riding distance you could buy a bike, but for the majority of AC students that is not an option unless we want to get up at 3 a.m.
Also try to run your air conditioning as little as possible; it uses more gas to run it.
We say: try online classes, or if you have kids, then try the Adult Students Program, which will give you gas money if you qualify.
Park the big SUV and start driving the Cavalier, and if you put money on a Wal-mart gift card to pay for gas at the pumps, it will save you 3 cents a gallon.
Also, try filling up at United, Sam's or the truck stops on I-40 east of town. All those places charge a few cents less.
When you are paying $90 a tank, that can help significantly.
With gas prices rising faster than the water in New Orleans, college students are digging deep into their pockets.
When the staff decided to write an editorial on gas prices, gas was $2.58 a gallon. As this is written, gas is $2.99.
Hurricane Katrina ensures us that the price won't be going down anytime soon. Instead, it has caused it to rise 40 cents in the past month.
The price for gas is higher in the smaller towns, causing more stress on the budgets of the out-of-district students who drive the farthest.
For college students who drive from area towns to class two to three times a week, gas is costing around $40 a week just for a gas-saving car.
"I just spent $90 filling up my Tahoe, and I have to fill it up once a week," said Ashley Torres, a business major.
Not only does the gas hurt our pocket books, but it also affects the economy, causing towns that are dependent on tourism and travelers to fall into a local recession.
It also is causing us to spend money on gas rather than clothes, toys and other luxuries.
Although Amarillo does have some of the lowest prices in the nation, Malibu, Calif., is charging $3.19 a gallon, New York residents are paying about $3.60 a gallon and drivers from the Hurricane areas - Mississippi, Alabama, and Louisiana - are paying just under $6 a gallon. Although we have lower gas prices, we also have a lower cost of living, which means we make less (wages) then the other cities. It all evens out.
Besides the much larger gasoline bill, we are paying to drive back and forth to be successful; we also are paying absurd prices for books and working only part-time to have time to study.
Scholarships help, and most of us do get student loans to lighten the load, but there still is the gas.
If you live within walking or riding distance you could buy a bike, but for the majority of AC students that is not an option unless we want to get up at 3 a.m.
Also try to run your air conditioning as little as possible; it uses more gas to run it.
We say: try online classes, or if you have kids, then try the Adult Students Program, which will give you gas money if you qualify.
Park the big SUV and start driving the Cavalier, and if you put money on a Wal-mart gift card to pay for gas at the pumps, it will save you 3 cents a gallon.
Also, try filling up at United, Sam's or the truck stops on I-40 east of town. All those places charge a few cents less.
When you are paying $90 a tank, that can help significantly.