Tuition hikes, activity fee necessary for better UA

It's a basic economics lesson: There's no such thing as a free lunch.

And that lesson is the new UA mantra as student leaders tell their peers, "If you want your college experience to be all it can be, pay up."

It's a mentality change that's in stark contrast to how student leaders approached the idea of tuition and fees just a few years ago, Dean of Students Melissa Vito said.

"We're at a point where students are realizing there is a potential for more things to be happening," she said. "Student leaders are scrambling for support and are now going to the students."

Change began last year when student leaders made a dramatic shift in their tuition request. After years of fighting for zero percent tuition hikes, then-ASUA President Doug Hartz agreed with administrators that students needed to invest more in their education in order to ensure its quality.

His tuition proposal was for a $900 tuition hike, only $100 less than President Peter Likins' proposal.

This year, ASUA President J.P. Benedict has held fast to the idea that students should invest more in tuition, asking for a $400 tuition hike, only $90 less than Likins' request. But he has also taken the idea a step further, supporting fees and student-led fund raising that encourage students to fork over more dough for a better college experience.

He hopes the dough will come as a student activity fee that asks students to pay $15 to $20 per semester for on-campus student activities and programs.

And through a student foundation, established last semester, students will be asked to donate money for scholarships and philanthropies.

Vito said student leaders have come to realize resources are limited, so now they are looking for other ways to support programs that benefit the campus community.

According to a recent survey by FMR Associates Inc., an independent market research firm, 84 percent of students polled said they would possibly or definitely support a student activity fee. This response comes seven years after UA students killed a $40 fee referendum to fund union construction.

And UA students are not alone when they offer to pay more for better services and activities. Students at Arizona State University are pushing for an approximately $300 student fee that would pay for union and recreation center renovations.

Jim Drnek, the ASUA adviser, said UA administrators have noticed for years that there is little to do on campus, and have done as much as they could with limited resources.

He said now the students realize it's time to take matters into their own hands, and they seem to be willing to make payments in order to get what they want out of the university.

"Students realize the need at the UA for more programs and activities and more ways to get involved," Benedict said.

Benedict said the police crackdown on parties and problems between neighbors and students have made it so students can't do the activities they used to do off campus, which contributes to the push for more activities on campus.

"Students began asking questions like what was there to do on campus besides bothering the neighbors, and they found that there wasn't much," Drnek said.

John Woehrle, a biology freshman, said students now want to get in shape and start getting involved in campus activities, even if it means they have to pay.

"Students are doing it because we need something to do besides drinking ourselves to sleep," he said.

Vito said issues with the neighbors and alcohol use are creating a greater need for on-campus activities.

"Those issues are emphasizing the need that students have more things going on," she said.

Benedict said the ideas of fees and a student foundation have floated around for years, but students are finally taking it upon themselves to do something about it.

"I'm all for it; bring it on. Tucson needs more activities, and $15 to $20 in the grand scheme of things is not so bad if there are more things to do," said Tristan Cotter, a pre-business sophomore.