Kate Ericsson wants her $40 worth when it comes to the Distinguished Speaker Series ("Speaker series should benefit student population," Oct. 3).

Maybe she should see what $40 would really buy you in the world of lectures. If you wanted to see Jon Stewart, who incidentally declined to speak here this year when approached by DSS, you would be spending between $55 and $115 a ticket. Bill Clinton charges over $100,000 per speaking engagement.

Each year DSS tries to bring in a variety of different speakers and each year they succeed with the money they have.

During my time at Penn State I was able to hear many different points of view, which fostered many "long-winded political and philosophical discussions." DSS only get a portion of the student activity fee because that money is split many ways to enrich the out-of-classroom experience for each student.

The amount one pays is small in comparison to what each student has the opportunity to take advantage of during the year. The students who comprise committees like DSS spend long hours every week making tough decisions based on the good of the many.

Before you go around complaining about the choices that are being made with your student activity fee, try joining either the DSS Committee or the University Park Allocation Committee because it is easy to point fingers but it is hard to actually take a stand.