News


	Four pleas for more student fees


	Health center fee might get axed

	By The Metropolitan staff

	The Student Health Center might not get an increase in student fees, but the Athletics, Information Technology and Student Affairs fees could go up by fall. Metro President Sheila Kaplan rejected the health centerâs proposal for an increase last month. The proposal has gone back to Metroâs Student Government Assembly, which could persuade Kaplan to change her mind, said Debbie Thomas, Metroâs spokeswoman. Steve Monaco, the health centerâs director, wants to raise the fee from $13.75 to $19 per student. The fee hasnât changed for five years, and Monaco said heâs wanted an increase for the past two years. The other three areas will find out the fates of their proposals sometime between March 15 and April 1, said Bruce Williams, Metroâs Budget Office director.

Jenny Sparks/The Metropolitan

BIG STRETCH: Metro senior Mitch McKinney gets help stretching from employees of Campus Recreationâs Physically Challenged program. Funds for Campus Recreation come from the Student Affairs fee.

John Reed, director of Academic Computing and User Services for Metro, said he already has plans for the increase ÷ top-notch computers.

The $17 Information Technology fee pays for campus computer labs. It was increased by $1 in 1994, but Reed believes almost every student will depend on computers in five years.

ãI hope, on behalf of the students, that it will be (increased),ä he said.

Athletics is asking for more money because of inflation and more participation in Metro sports, said Athletics Director William Helman.

The department requested a raise from $18 to $21 per student. The Athletics fee pays for Metroâs 10 sports teams, eight of which compete in the Rocky Mountain Athletic Conference. Helman said the number of students on Metro sports teams has doubled in four years.

It also costs more for Metro teams to go to games.

Since they joined RMAC two years ago, the teams travel greater distances than before, said Mark Cicero, Metroâs sports information director.

Athletics charters buses to take the teams to and from games. The standard chartered trip costs around $5,000 and the highest is $10,000.

ãThis fee needs more investigation before approval,ä said Jessie Bullock, who recently quit as student government vice president of Student Fees. ãIt is hard to pinpoint the benefits to all students.ä

Bullock said the purpose of fees is to benefit as many students as possible. Only 200 of Metroâs 17,500 students are on college sports teams. But others said the teams attract businesses that want to invest in the college, which ultimately aids all students.

The Student Affairs fee, which provides a child care subsidy and pays for programs such as Student Legal Services and Campus Recreation, would increase by $5 per student each semester.

The fee is based on a graduated scale and hasnât been raised in five years, said Yolanda Ortega-Ericksen, associate vice president of Student Services and dean of Student Life.

A law, passed last year, required that itemized lists of student fees be printed on studentsâ bills.
This prompted a greater number of inquiries about how student fees are spent.

Kaplan has the last word at Metro on changes in student fees.

She then makes recommendations to Metroâs governing board, which can approve or reject those proposals.

Alicia Beard, Tim Fields, Claudia Hibbert-BeDan, Emily Laughlin and Kerney Williams contributed to this report.