The cost of attendance at Tulane University exceeds $50,000 a year for resident students. Tulanians pay a fortune every year for tuition and fees, yet still feel nickeled-and-dimed for other services.

Parking permits cost students $575 for the year. Faculty, staff and alumni also have to pay outrageous amounts of money for parking, based on their salaries. The cheapest permits cost $420 per year and the most expensive run as high as $650.

For student organizations' vans and other Tulane vehicles to park on campus (for example, on McAlister), they have to pay $1,300 per semester for a reserved space.

The academic services fee costs $45 per credit, which adds up to $1,350 per year for students taking 15 credits a semester. Students also have to pay for their academic advising, though many seniors have had a new advisor for every year they've been here.

Academic support fees include basic services such as use of the library and the science and language labs and costs up to $2,200.

We pay $420 for access to Reily [Student Recreation Center] and then still have to pay up to $330 per semester for certain classes.

Damage billing is also completely out of line: $100 for spit on a lobby door, $40 for Mardi Gras beads in the shower, $175 for "kick me" stickers. Wiping spit off with a towel, picking up beads and taking off a few stickers doesn't sound like $215 worth of work.

The Hullabaloo wants to know where our money goes.

Students shell out an exorbitant amount of money to come here, and yet the employees are left feeling mistreated, unappreciated and underpaid.

Tulane professors rarely receive tenure, the student programming staff gets cut each year and Tulane doesn't provide benefits for Unicco [custodial service] and Sodexho [food service] workers.

If Unicco workers miss three days of work, they are fired immediately.

The three employees who remain in the office of student programming do the same work that at least 10 people handled before Katrina.

As much as we hate paying all the extra expenses that Tulane tacks onto our tuition bills, we wouldn't mind nearly so much if: a) we knew where the money was going, and b) that it was paying for things that actually improved student life.

Students have the right to know exactly where their money goes. We understand that our fees and expenses cover specific services and upkeep, but what about tuition? We want to know how that money gets broken down and how it affects us.

As one of the most expensive universities in the nation, we pay some of the lowest salaries. Let us know where our money is headed, if it's not to pay for our teachers, parking, advising, damages or lab usage.

Tulane owes it to us, as paying customers of this university, to explain what exactly our money is used for.