This February, it's going to be a little harder to gain a coveted dancer spot on the floor of Rec Hall. The Thon registration cost has increased from $900 to $1,100 per couple. Logically, we can say the increase can only help, because a higher fee will mean more money for the Four Diamonds Fund. And who can say more money for cancer research is bad? But what does the increase do to the accessibility of Thon to individual students and small student organizations?

For many small clubs and individual dancers, limited resources make it difficult to raise an extra $200. Often they cannot find members to go on all four canning weekends and rely on just a few or private donations. So, when the increased registration fee was not announced until right before Thanksgiving, it left only three canning weekends, one of which immediately followed November break, and not a lot of time to plan.

Last year, for the ninth year in a row, Alpha Tau Omega fraternity and Zeta Tau Alpha sorority took first place for the most money raised by a greek organization with $257,999.81.

Phi Gamma Nu business fraternity came in first place for most money raised by an individual organization with $67,587.33. Clearly, non-greek organizations have a much harder time raising money.

Also, the changes have been in the works since the beginning of the school year. Maybe it would have been a little easier on participants if they had known a little earlier.

And yes, the idea should be about raising money, not about dancing, but Thon is a huge social event for students as well. The greek advantages built into the system show that it is not all about the financial bottom line. For groups that have not had dancers in the past, the increase makes it harder for differing groups across campus to share the experience.

Veteran organizations receive dancers based solely on the amount of money raised by a collective student or greek organization. Therefore, groups that have previously had dancers in Thon only need to jump the hurdle of an extra $200. However, independents have to do that in addition to entering a lottery system before receiving a spot. Reaching the goal of $1,100 still only gets the individual or group one chance in the lottery, which doesn't allow for amazing odds. So, they may go through a lot of trouble and still not receive a spot, therefore discouraging dancers from participating next year.

Thon is about the kids, and about the money that gets raised for them. But it is also the experience of dancing for a cause, and everyone should have an equal shot at that.