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February 21, 1989 Vol. 87, No. 35 Central State University, Edmond, Oklahoma
Tuition cap bill passes first step By Laurel Anquoe students are the ones paying the Student Writer taxes." A legislative bill designed to According to the bill, the freeze tuition costs has passed the regents would be authorized to first step to becoming law in establish general enrollment fees Oklahoma. which would not exceed $39 per The bill, introduced by Majori- semester credit hour for ty Floor Leader Guy Davis, has undergraduate courses and $49 been passed by the House Rules per semester credit hour for Committee, said Rep. Freddye H. graduate courses. Williams, a committee member. The bill also states that nonresiThe act suspends authority for dent tuition fees would not exceed the Oklahoma State Regents for $101 per semester credit hour for Higher Education to modify tui- undergraduate courses and $128 tion and fee costs for at least one per semester credit hour for year and can be brought to the graduate courses. floor for a vote at anytime, The cap on tuition and fees Williams said. would also apply to the medical Williams said she voted for the schools, law center and other protuition hike but is now "sorry grams within the higher education because the parents of the system.
Public service plan may help students By Laurel Anquoe Student Writer A new alternative for financing a college education may become available to students if the Citizenship and National Service Act of 1989 is passed in the United States Congress this year. Rep. Dave McCurdy, D-Okla., is the House sponsor of the bill that he said is intended to provide opportunities for young people to earn educational benefits through public service. Sen. Sam Nunn, D-Ga., is the Senate sponsor of the bill. "The existing federal aid system is not working very well," McCurdy said. The Reagan administration has shifted the emphasis from grants and scholarships to loans in the federal aid system, he said. The
service proposal is designed to alleviate the loan program "that makes students indentured students who sometimes end up owing over $50,000," McCurdy said. Under the program, financial assistance would not be limited to tuition aid but could be applied to job training or purchase of a home. In return for community service in such areas as day care, conservation, mental hospitals, and nursing homes, a participant would receive a $10,000 voucher per year of service, up to 2 years, McCurdy said. A maximum voucher of $24,000 per year would be available for military service in the program. Please see Congress on page 8.
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A resolution that urges the Oklahoma Legislature to define student activities and requires the establishment of a student activity fees committee comprised of at least 50 percent students for each member college was passed Saturday by the Oklahoma Student Government Association after nearly three hours deliberation in the Edmond Sheraton Ballroom. The measure was sent back to committee for re-wording following disagreement on the floor about who should share input with students on activity fee issues. Several of the larger school's delegates argued that leaving responsibility with the Legislature or state regents to define student
activities would not resolve the issue. "It would be defined (activities) but not opened to tell the students what the fees are spent for," said Felix Brown of the University of Oklahoma. Oklahoma State University's Jody Johnson said the state regents are no more informed about each school's student needs than the administrators. He urged delegates to work with their administrators for more student control. Gail Duerksen of Southwestern Oklahoma State disagreed. "We have tried to get that control (of activity fees). But we need a larger control standing behind us." Earlier in the day, the Student Advisory Board held a public hearing to discuss allocation
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Fee usage raises concern By Bretta Barritt Student Writer Unhappy with the way activity fees are spent at Central State University, the Student Association is launching a campaign during Activity Fees Awareness Week (Feb. 20-24) to express student concerns about this procedure. The Student Association will distribute stickers around campus that say "It's My Money " and "I want R.U.M.M. (responsible use of my money)," said Jeff Shilling, Student Association parliamentarian. The association would like students to wear the stickers Feb. 22. The association recently sent a letter to all CSU student organizations regarding questions raised in the recent state auditor's report about activity fee expenditures for
events not benefitting the entire student body, Shilling said. Students pay $3.00 in activity fees for every credit hour they enroll in. The Student Association says this amounts to more than $800,000 a year. The association would like to increase the amount of input students have in the expenditure of these activity funds, Shilling said. CSU President Bill Lillard said in the Feb. 17 Daily Oklahoman that he's not willing to give up control of the money. "If I could figure out a way to delegate the responsibility (for activity fees) as well as the authority to spend them, then maybe I could do something. But, unfortunately, no matter who has the authority, the responsibility always comes back to the presi-
College leaders pass fee measure By Jerry Pierce Managing Editor
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policy of student actitvity fees. The Board will present a proposal to the state regents in April about fee allocation, said Jeff Shilling, Student Advisory Board chairman. "The Chancellor is aware of the situation," Shilling said. "We would rather go through the Chancellor than the Legislature." Several student delegates expressed disgust at the way fee money is being allocated. Oklahoma City Community College spent student activity fees for construction of an olympicsized swimming pool for the 1989 U.S. Olympic Festival, said OCCC student delegate Richard Dressler. "If you want to have football, it ought to pay for itself," said Paul Dameron, a Northeastern Oklahoma State student upset
with athletic programs using fee money. "The whole idea of a student activity fee is to provide programs for the students," said Cameron's Paula Phillips. Other types of allocation are illegal, Phillips said. The Student Advisory Board also discussed the establishment of a paid full-time executive director position that would provide lobbying power for state schools plus an on-line computer system to access information from school to school. "This would unify the student governments and make us a force to be reckoned with," said OSGA director Craig Purser of OU. OSGA also passed resolutions requesting fire and safety inspecPlease see OSGA on page 8.
dent," Lillard said. To oversee the use of the funds, the association is proposing a committee composed of three faculty members, three students and three administrators, according to the article. The Oklahoman article also said Lillard indicated the creation of such a committee isn't likely. A 1987 random survey of more than 500 CSU students conducted by the Student Association indicated only 1.9 percent of the student body approved of the present system of allocating funds by the administration. According to the survey, many students (49.8%) supported the proposed committee. Also, the majority of students felt the athletic program was receiving excessive funding and not enough funds were allocated to student organizations, entertainment and educational programs. The association's letter to student organizations disclosed the 1986-87 CSU administration's report to the state regents included a budget of over $316,000 in one of the athletic accounts. The following year they reported spending $444,000 on that account, $128,000 more than budgeted. The letter said the association supports athletics, but not such "deceitful" overspending. Shilling said "We're not talking about a 'party budget'; we're talking about a budget that plays a major part in most all student programs. "It's hard to have a cooperative attitude when they (the administration) tell you they are budgeting 'x' number of dollars for a particular progam when in fact they are spending significantly more."