Regents give go ahead to $1 KAMP referendum

Student Regent John Platt, the only board member to vote against the optional $1 tuition increase, said he feared KAMP's fee would start a student-fee precedent.

Starting in May, University of Arizona students will pay $1 more each semester than students at ASU or Northern Arizona University. The fee will be assessed for five years or until UA's dean of students decides KAMP is self-sufficient.

UA President Peter Likins argued at the regents' meeting at ASU Friday that the three state universities already have differing fees for out-of-state students and part-time students, and charge varying Campus Recreation Center fees.

"This is not exactly a precedent," Likins said. "It's a tiny step."

In March 1997, 74.5 percent of student voters approved the optional fee after more than 250 KAMP employees pushed the issue onto the student ballot by collecting 4,222 signatures.

The fee will help fund an application to the Federal Communications Commission for a broadcasting frequency with a larger range and new equipment.

Another unanticipated procedural glitch had members of KAMP sweating.

"The University of Arizona didn't do anything wrong, but the board should be addressed before fees are voted on," said Frank Besnette, the regents' executive director. "I think it's in the board's best interest to vote on all fees before the students vote on them."

Besnette said the board already has a policy requiring potential student fees to get the regents' approval first - before a student referendum is even held.

"We slipped," he said.

Associated Students President Gilbert Davidson said KAMP's fee puts the UA in uncharted territory.

"The board made it known that in the future, this is not how it's going to be," Davidson said. "I don't think it was a pressing issue. The dollar fee just slipped their mind."

Adlai Wilson, KAMP's general manager, appealed directly to the board on the station's behalf.

"We just need some sort of start," he said. "Our ultimate goal is to be self-sufficient."

After the measure was passed, relief was visible on Wilson's face.

"This is the end to a long process," he said. "But the beginning of a new one."