At the beginning of the semester Chico State’s Meriam Library announced that the administration had cut the operating hours. The latest the library will be open is 11:45 p.m. Those hours will be valid Monday through Thursday. Saturday’s saw the most dramatic change with the new hours ranging from noon to 4:45 p.m.

The administration stated the reason for this change is to protect students and save costs. Stating that students leaving the library as late as 2 a.m. is unsafe.

Students who may not live in a quiet environment now have less time to study somewhere peaceful and students who don’t have access to technology will have less time to do their online assignments.

The new hours also do not take into consideration the varying availability and scheduling of a student population of over 17,000 where many can only make it to the library in the morning or late at night.

Student Charles Payne, a senior mechanical engineering and physics major, said he has resorted to going to the Chico public library to do his early morning school work.

Although it is understandable that budget cuts need to be made occasionally, we do not think cutting library hours is an acceptable option.

This budget cut directly affects students who probably already feel like they are paying an overinflated tuition.

It seems unfair that students are paying the price for poor budgeting on behalf of the school.

The saved funds will be going towards IT services, but if budgeting was done properly we think both would be able to be afforded.

Students are just left feeling cheated and powerless. The administration is taking an amenity students pay for away.

In addition, this budget cut affects all the students who work at the library. Some employees stating that their work schedules had been cut from 18 to 13 hours.

Overall, the students, who now pay higher tuition, are getting less for the money. The change of the library hours is harmful to student’s education and studying which is unacceptable.

Essentially, when student’s educations are part of the equation, money shouldn’t be.