OUR VIEWS Consensus Opinion

Yet again, the Student Government Association has found itself in the uneviable position of having to seek a $15 increase to the mandatory Student Activity Fee (SAF) to cope with increased requests. This increase is overwhelmingly driven by the Campus Recreation Center and, to a lesser extent, the Student Center, with the CRC requests amounting to 87 percent of the $15-per-student proposed increase.

If the Board of Regents (BOR) approves the latest increase, the SAF will reach $113 a semester, having risen 45 percent since fall 2002 when it was at $78. By comparison, in the same time, tuition for in-state students has risen 20 percent and out-of-state tuition has risen 27 percent, according to the Institute Research and Planning ' s factbook. Simply put, it is unacceptable for the fee to increase that much in such a short period of time. Just as an employee could not reasonably expect a 45 percent increase in salary over a 4-year period, the CRC should not expect a similar increase.

Since the BOR approved a $12 increase last year, there is no guarantee that it will prove so accommodating this time. However, if the BOR does not approve an increase, it will not be the CRC that suffers. As Tier 1 organizations, the CRC and the Student Center have the highest priority in Student Activity Fee allocations. Ultimately, student organizations, in particular the Tier 3 cultural, sport and academic clubs, will be negatively impacted and lose funding.

It is unacceptable that the continuity of student organization funding be perpetually at the mercy of Tier-1 requests. This uncertainty is a hidden cost that far exceeds the $15 increase. The time has come to develop a long-term solution to handle the increased budget requests from the CRC.

The CRC ' s proposal to expand hours, meet demand and continue its high quality of service have merit, but it is unacceptable for students to continue to pay higher fees every year without a guarantee that the requests will stabilize. It is time for students, SGA and administrators to decide whether funding for the CRC should be split from the Student Activity Fee budget into its own separate fee.

While splitting the fee would risk giving up some student oversight of the center ' s finances, that may be a price worth paying to create stability in Tier 2 and Tier 3 organizations ' budgets. The current limits of student oversight and control over the CRCs requests have already been demonstrated. A separate fee would put a greater incentive on the CRC to trim the fat and operate as efficiently as possible, and while students would still have to pay the increased fee, it would isolate and protect student organization funding.