Spring Break
Student government postpones fee-hike vote
Vimal Patel
Issue date: 4/19/07 Section: News
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The Rocky Mountain Collegian
The Associated Students of CSU senate postponed a vote on whether to approve a funding package that would increase student fees by $130 next year.
The senate, which was in session until about 3 a.m. Thursday, couldn't vote on the issue that night. A vote is scheduled for the next senate meeting, set for 10 p.m. Wednesday.
The package would raise student fees to of $1,050 per year and will head to the CSU board of governors, which will make a final vote in June.
The most contentious part of the package is funding for the athletics department, which received a $17 per semester increase last year and is requesting a $15 one for next year.
The vote wasn't expected until this morning, but at least one senator planned on voting for it.
"We're last in funding in the Mountain West Conference," said August Ritter, a senator from the College of Liberal Arts. "It's all about escalating Ram Pride."
The decision of the Student Fee Review Board, which approved athletics increases on Monday and approved the entire fee package, has never been overturned by the board of governors, said Mark Settle, SFRB member.
"They didn't make a specific case for the money," Settle said about the athletics department. "The size of increases of the last couple years have been ridiculous."
When the university technology fee and university facility fee are factored, a student taking 15 units would pay $1,380 in student fees next year, up from $$1,250.
The funding package included increases for various campus departments, including Hartshorn Health Services, the Lory Student Center and Student Media, which oversees the Collegian.
Under the proposal, each student would pay $167 to fund athletics operations, 22 percent more than they currently pay.
Yearly student-fee funding for LSC operations, currently at $146, would jump to $177 under the proposal - a 21 percent increase. HHS funding would jump 13 percent to $247 per student per year.
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