The economic organization of this, or any, college campus is completely and utterly skewed by forces dark and unknown. As with the organization of any society, only the things we truly value as a public obligation, in this case academics, should be subsidized by the public sphere.

For instance, in England, education is regarded as a “public” good, something imparted upon the citizenry for the sake of the nation as opposed to the individual, and thus higher education is virtually free. In America, we ascribe to (in my opinion for the better) a more individual-based economic philosophy.

For instance, I regard coffee as an academic necessity. My 8:30 a.m. classes would be more vacant than southeast Binghamton luxury housing if it were not readily accessible. As I author this column from La Tazza, a splendid, charming and contemporary caf√É.√© with free wireless (right next to Number 5, on S. Washington Street), sipping a cup of pumpkin spice roast, I wonder what I would be doing without the 26 ounces of coffee in front of me. Answer? I’d be in a semi-comatose state, drooling on my Batman pillow as a result of averaging six hours of sleep a night for the last four months, assuredly doing nothing constructive. The only thing keeping me productive is this tasty caffeine and ambient smooth jazz purveyed by the owner of the caf√É.√©.

I am certain I’m not the only person who relies on caffeine as a viable substitute for sleep and motivation. I do quite a bit of studying here, and although it’s not expensive, on principle alone I feel like my student activity fee should offset some of the cost. Coffee should be free — plain and simple. It’s fundamental to academics.

What is not required? Electricity in the dorms to keep your computer screens on all night and Madden 2007 churning all day. Each dorm should be responsible for its electric consumption. Not only environmentally conscientious, but economically sensible — make them pay for it and they will use less of it. Right now, far too much electricity is being used anyway. While living in a dorm, it was probably a superfluous use of energy to keep a 30-rack at 35 degrees all baseball season.

The city of Binghamton understands that garbage collection should be pay-to-play. We encounter a “tragedy of the commons” in dorms, wherein there is no motivation to keep the public (garbage rooms in dorms) sphere in clean order, and more so no motivation not to overuse public services. Although now that I live off campus, and heckling my housemates to buy garbage bags is quite annoying, I appreciate the City of Binghamton’s scheme that makes you pay for special bags to collect garbage, as it certainly makes us more frugal patrons of the public service.

What else should be free? Well, I can make the case for textbooks, but that would undermine the possibility of me ever getting a job with a publishing company in any capacity for the rest of my life. I shouldn’t have to pay to park. I find that ludicrous. I need to drive to class, there are no bus services anywhere near my house and so what exactly am I supposed to do, skateboard?

The school has a monopoly on parking, coffee kiosks and, for many of you, books and other essential academic services — these should be made free. The things in the real world we should use less of, garbage and electricity, should be made pay-per-use.

Call me a Republican-controlled Congress (actually, please don’t), but that sounds like solid economic policy.

Joe C. Galante-Eisenberg is a senior economics major. He believes Yadier Molina should be exiled to Siberia.