I was satisfying my penchant for John Hughes films with yet another screening of “The Breakfast Club,” when inspiration struck. At the very end of the movie, in the scene in which a newly-enlightened Judd Nelson walks across the football field with the setting sun as a backdrop, the sounds of Simple Minds’ “Don’t You (Forget About Me)” overtook my senses.

“This is it,” I said to myself. “This is how I can save Binghamton University from all its monetary woes. I’ll mail a recording of this song to every alumnus, along with a note that says ‘Give Us Your Money.’ If Simple Minds does to them what they do to me, they’ll have no choice but to dust off the old checkbook and start scribbling zeros, right?”

I soon awoke from the daze that Ally Sheedy always puts me in, and realized that it wouldn’t be as simple as all that. People love their money, and most are content to keep it. There’s no doubt in my mind that part of the reason B.U. has managed to stay afloat all these years is because of the generosity of past graduates who feel some strong connections to the University. We are all deeply indebted to them, of that I am certain. At the same time, I’m confused.

Perhaps they experienced a different BU than the one I attend. This must be the case, because at the present moment, I have absolutely no intention of giving any of my future money to this school, not while the money that’s being received right now is in the hands of people I don’t believe act in the best interest of the students. I shouldn’t have to remind anyone about the East Gym fiasco last year. The administration wanted a bigger, better building, and the students said no. That should have been the end of it, but just this month, at University Forum 2006, President DeFleur spoke of the school’s intention to go back to the drawing board for renovations in the near future. The Boss wants her new East Gym, regardless of the student body’s opinion.

If we, as current students, lack confidence in the University to do the right thing for us now, why on earth would we even consider making donations after we graduate, expecting that the cash we hope will go toward improving student life will, in fact, be used to build shiny, useless buildings that look pretty on the cover of admissions packets?

The BU Alumni Donations Web site describes donations as a means of “supporting values and beliefs.” I completely agree. The school needs to start practicing what it preaches and show a little bit more respect for its future benefactors. If this University continues to foster distrust among its current students, it will find itself in a lurch when it comes time for our generation to start writing checks. We’ll be Molly Ringwald-esque. We’ll hang around for a few years, and then you’ll never hear from us again.

Matt McFadden is a sophomore English and Arabic major