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About The Battalion. (College Station, Tex.) 1893-current | View Entire Issue (April 27, 1995)
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LABORATORY FEE All students taking labs pay a fee ranging from $2-30 for each laboratory course per semester. This pays for the equipment and facilities used during labs. HEALTH CENTER FEE All students must pay this $25 fee for operating, maintaining and equipping A.P. Beutel Health Center. c r IpFi o n F 1 on- -R e s i d enF o r aF o r y F e e d e nF S e r V 1 c e s e r al U s e F ee Fee Health Center Fee Student Center Complex Fee Computer Access Fee International Education Fee S UPM . 1996. Studeci nail onorarouri > the approval of I ‘95.ed: bus passes wl PS cashiers if >ummerpemn 11, the bus pas 10 e available fof Note — these fees are ft stbident taking 13 ■■r COMPUTER ACCESS FEE All students pay $5 per credit hour to pay for maintenance and expansion of academic comput ing facilities on campus. By Amber Clark and Amy Collier The Battalion U pon registering for classes, students are of ten overwhelmed by the long list of fees ap pearing on their fee statements. Current increases approved by the Board of Re gents and the state legislature may add to this confusion, and students may complain they do not know where their money is going. The following is a breakdown of student fees and where our mon ey goes. Tuition Currently, residents of Texas are charged $28 for each credit hour they take. Non-residents are charged $171 per credit hour. Dr. Jerry Gaston, executive vice president of fi nance and administration, said the state legislature decided to increase the tuition to $30 per credit hour several years ago. Gaston said the tuition for non residents will be $176 per credit hour. This was de cided by a University Coordinating Board under the state legislature. Graduate students will pay $60 per credit hour. Although tuition is increasing, Gaston said col lege students in Texas are fortunate. “The state of Texas has about the lowest tuition in the country,” he said. Terra Philby, a senior geography major, said she does not agree with the increased prices. “I am very unhappy with the increase in out-of- state tuition,” Philby said. “There is no reason stat ed as to why they are increasing tuition, except that we must be competitive with other universities.” Some student leaders feel they tuition increase is fair. Toby Boenig, student body president, said he hopes the legislature will continue to place impor tance on the future of higher education and the in crease will help to improve our education. “Of course, as a student, I’m not happy about it,” Boenig said. “But it’s important that they (the legis lature) fund us because we are the future of Texas.” Jeb Jones, a senior economics major, was a stu dent senator for the past two years, and said he be lieves the increase in tuition is reasonable for a good education. “I think we have to realize that Texas is a very inexpensive place to get a very good education,” Jones said. “We’ll still be considered one of the best buys. We really are getting a deal.” Computer Access Fee All students pay $5 per credit hour to pay for maintenance and expansion of academic computing facilities on campus. Mary Anne Kornegy, who works with A&M’s Computing Information Systems, said only 20,000 students use the computer services that are avail able. INTERNATIONAL EDUCATION FEE This $1 fee is to support internation al education and related activities, such as the Study Abroad program. The students that choose to use the computers have access to a variety of computer programs, printers and computer labs around campus, she said. “In general, they get access to any of the main frame computers on campus with that fee,” Kornegy said. Student Services Fee Students are charged $8.25 per credit hour, with the maximum fee of $99 each semester. Dr. Bill Kibler, assistant vice president of stu dent affairs, said the majority of the budget of stu dent service fees goes to programs in the Memorial Student Center, recreational sports, the student counseling services and the health center. A smaller amount of the budget goes to a variety of other things on campus as well, Kibler said. “We have a list of 24 different offices, depart ments or programs that are funded by student ser vice fees,” Kibler said. The fee allows students to get free copies of The Battalion and reduced admission to many MSG pro grams. It also allows the services of the student le gal adviser, the MSG, Student Counseling Service, Student Activities and the Department of Recre ational Sports. Kibler said there is a student proposal to in crease student service fees by $9. Kibler said the increase is necessary to pay for growing operating expenses each recipient faces. “The majority of the recipients will receive in creases,” Kibler said. T A?. Rayburn, vice president of public relations of the MSG, said she thinks the increase is fair be cause the services the MSG provides directly benefit students. “I don’t like fee increases, but I think this will be beneficial,” Rayburn said. “The MSG offers quality programs that students can benefit from.” Besides covering programs in the MSG, Rayburn said other services the fee covers benefit students as well, and will only improve with an added budget. General Use Fee Students are charged $12 per hour to cover ex penses the University has for expansion, air condi tioning and rehabilitation of facilities. “It doesn’t have to be devoted to buildings, but that’s what we’ve done,” Gaston said. Health Center Fee All students must pay this $25 fee for operating, maintaining and equipping A.P. Beutel Health Cen ter. It entitles students to use many of its services for free, not including surgical operations or charges for consultations with outside physicians requested by parents. Dr. Kenneth R. Dirks, director of the Depart ment of Student Health Services, said this $25 fee is a reasonable price for what the health center pro vides. “One visit downtown is $45 and up for an initial TUITION Currently, residents of Texas are charged $28 for each credit hour they take. Non-residents are charged $171 per credit hour. visit,” Dirks said. “I think this is the best bargain in health care in the country.” The fee covers lab work, X-rays and EMS ambu lance service. It also covers special programs for physical therapy and nutritional counseling, includ ing weight control and diet programs. Students are entitled to consultations with ortho pedic specialists, general surgeons, urologists and ear, nose and throat specialists. They can also re ceive routine gynecology work and limited psychi atric treatment. Dirks said the center is presently establishing a women’s clinic to be operated Monday through Fri day. Currently, gynecological work is only provided two hours a week. For the past six years, $15 of the student services fee has been contributed to the A.P. Beutel Health Center. With the approval of a referendum in stu dent body elections, this money will be added to the Health Center Fee instead. The state legislature has placed a $25 cap on the amount a student pays for health services. With student approval of the referendum, the legislature must vote to raise the cap to $40 in May. This new cap includes the original $25 fee plus the $15 trans fer from the Student Services fee. “I think it (the transfer) was a recognition by the student government that there was more money needed for the health center,” Dirks said. “The cur rent fees should be enough to take care of health services for the coming year.” Owen Ross, former president of the Residence Hall Association, said the transfer is necessary and benefits the students. “The transfer gives students a better knowledge of where their money is going,” Ross said. “Now they can see that they’re really paying $40 for ser vices instead of $25. I think this might actually en courage them to go since they’re paying the money.” Student Center Complex Fee This $24 fee is required of all students for main taining, improving and equipping the Student Cen ter Complex. Kibler said the Student Center Complex is com prised of the Rudder complex. Rudder Tower, the MSG and the Koldus Building. The fee pays for the maintenance and renova tions of these four buildings, Kibler said. Kibler said this fee is not to be confused with the student services fee, which is purely to fund activi ties on campus. International Education Fee This $1 fee is to support international education and related activities, such as the Study Abroad program. “It is to provide scholarships to our international activities,” Gaston said. Laboratory Fees All students taking labs pay a fee ranging from $2-30 for each laboratory course per semester. This STUDENT SERVICE FEE Students are charged $8.25 per credit hour, with the maximum fee of $99 each semester. GENERAL USE FEE Students are charged $12 per hour to cover ex penses the University has for expansion, air condi tioning and rehabilitation of facilities. STUDENT CENTER COMPLEX FEE This $24 fee is required of all students for maintaining, improving and equip ping the Student Center Complex. pays for the equipment and facilities used during labs. Equipment Access Fees Equipment access fees were approved by the Board of Regents for the College of Architecture and the College of Geosciences and Maritime Studies. The fees are $60 and $50, respectively. These fees, which are also charged to certain en gineering and science courses, cover equipment pur chases and maintenance costs. Parking fee increase The Board of Regents recently approved parking fee increases, which were proposed by the Finance and Audit Committee. The increases are as follows: • Commuter: $55 to $75 • Reserved (staff): $135 to $200 • Night Permit: $15 to $35 • Summer: $20 to $55 • Garage roof: $150 to $200 • Garage priority: $225 to $270 • Zachry basement: $225 to $270 • Garage inside: $200 to $240 • Garage visitor: $.50/hr to $.60 / hr Gaston said the increases are necessary because there is a $20 million plan to expand parking areas and improve lighting. Plans for a new parking garage are currently underway. “Our parking is too low and hasn’t been changed in years,” Gaston said. Some students are angered by the increased parking fee. Philby said she cannot understand the reason for the increase because parking is so limit ed. “Why raise parking fees when there is nowhere to park?” Philby said. “It’s too difficult to get park ing anywhere on campus, so what is raising the fees going to do for us?” Boenig said the parking increases are necessary because of the improvements students are demand ing. (We’re trying to listen to the students and fix everything,” Boenig said. “Unfortunately, we are go ing to have to pay for it.” Boenig said he has created the position of vice president for student finance to help monitor what students’ opinions are on parking increases and to make sure increases do not skyrocket. “We’re trying to listen to more of what the stu dents are saying,” Boenig said. “With our budget constraints, it’s hard.” New Recreational Sport Fee A $50 fee will be issued to pay specifically for the new sports complex located on West Campus. Kibler said the complex is scheduled to open in Fall 1995. “The students have been paying for many years to support Rec Sports,” Kibler said. “That will con tinue and the additional fee is just for the building.” HVOdflSJ