Letters to the editor | March 5 edition

Published 1:30 am Tuesday, March 3, 2026

Boulder up a hill

Of course Vashon Community Scholarships is to be commended for their work, providing scholarships to graduating Vashon seniors. They are pushing a large boulder up a steep hill.

At the UW, in-state tuition is $12,973, out-of-state tuition $43,209, making college unavailable to the poor. Some tuition pays the UW president over $1 million per year and the football coach $7,575,024.

I hear they both have lots of cats, but lack empathy for students. The coach’s salary is equivalent to yearly tuition for hundreds of students. The average amount of debt for college graduates in the U. S. is $27,420.

The UW also makes contributions to political candidates. Why?

Don’t forget the trillion dollar defense budget, (the murder budget). Is murder more deserving of tax money than providing a free college education? I attended the University of Illinois in 1958, graduating with zero debt, tuition being $25 per semester. College was affordable in 1958, but unaffordible today? Why?

No one needs a million dollars a year! University administrators, coaches, and the military should stop picking students’ pockets. If these facts and numbers don’t piss you off, you need a defibrillator.

Shelley Simon