Affordable can mean a few things, but in this case, affordable means: get yourself some grants, loans and scholarships because otherwise you’re going to have a pretty difficult time paying for tuition.

Large donations, new advertising slogans and the chancellor traveling to China have all been a part of a concentrated effort to increase the University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee’s visibility and create a more positive image of our university.

While I applaud these efforts, a recent study has shown that a large amount of Wisconsin residents are really unhappy with the UW System.

A Madison-area firm called Wood Communications Group conducted a survey last year, but the results were not what the System was hoping for. While everyone is trying to boost morale and perceptions of the various Wisconsin universities, turns out the residents don’t think very highly of the System at all.

The Milwaukee Journal Sentinel ran a story Feb. 24 that included some of the results. The study showed that over 70 percent of residents think “UW campuses spend too much money on things they don’t need … instead of educating students.”

That’s pretty harsh.

But let’s think about this: We pay a lot of money to be here. We attend a public state university, which is supposed to be affordable. Affordable can mean a few things, but in this case, affordable means: get yourself some grants, loans and scholarships because otherwise you’re going to have a pretty difficult time paying for tuition.

In fact, the study showed that about 75 percent of residents are unable to send their kids to UW institutions because of the high tuition.

Would tuition be a little more affordable if we didn’t have brand new tiling in the Union, or if all of the campus employee’s uniforms weren’t replaced frequently and expensively? I also really don’t want to discover that my tuition is helping to foot the bill for the landscaping fees of the chancellor’s Lake Drive home.

Programs that help keep students safe keep getting cut, and pay ranges for administrators keep getting raised.

Our library had to change its hours because apparently the university can’t afford to keep it open past 11 p.m. We’re college students, we are night owls and our library can’t afford to stay open for us?

But, hey! Look at the pretty new tiling in the Union! Look at Guest Services’ pretty new uniforms!

What I am hoping is that this serves as a wake-up call for the UW System. I am sure that everyone involved is very disappointed in the results of the survey, and that they are genuinely disappointed. Now that they have this information, that most of the state’s residents think there’s a lot of work to be done, something will be done about it.

While rising tuition (let’s face it, rising costs of everything) is inevitable, there should still be efforts to curb frivolous spending on campus. Sure, it may look all shiny and pretty, but what are appearances going to get you?

The way our campus looks — or how much our educators and administrators are paid — means absolutely nothing if we aren’t getting a fantastic education. Which is why we are here, and why we are working so hard to pay for it.

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