Students pay the price for activities

With just a cursory glance at a bursar bill, students will find a wide variety of enigmatic fees, including additional course fees, technology and health fees. One fee that students may find particularly confounding is the student activity fee, which, according to the Office of the Bursar, is appropriated down to the very last cent to no less than 13 different activities and services.\nCurrently, students pay $58.87 each semester or $29.43 for an individual summer session in activity fees. The lion's share of this fee, $37.46 or $18.73 for one summer session, is allotted for recreational sports. This portion of the fee entitles a student to unlimited use of the Student Recreational Sports Center; the facilities in the School of Health, Physical Education and Recreation; and the North Fee Lane Field Complex as well as group exercise sessions. \nStudents not enrolled in summer classes must purchase a membership, which costs the same as the activity fee, for each summer session in order to use these facilities. The remainder of the fee is applied to Union Board events, auditorium events, WIUS radio, the IU Student Association and Student Legal Services amongst numerous areas.\nJackie Puterbaugh, associate director of the Recreational Sports Division, said the fee is primarily used to provide programs such as strength and conditioning, group exercise and informal swimming. \n"Most of the fee goes directly to programming, she said. "It also subsidizes the cost for club and intramural sports."\nA small portion of a student's activity fee, $1.16, is appropriated for equipment replacement.\n"We have about $1.6 million dollars worth of assets. That money goes towards replacing equipment at the end of it's life expectancy," Puterbaugh said. \nMuch of the money is used to pay the wages of the recreational sports staff, which Puterbaugh said consists largely of students. \n"A good percentage of that money goes back into students pockets through student employment. We have about 800 student employees that work for us in part-time positions." \nThe activity fee, which comes under review every two years, is established by students, a fact that may assuage students' fears of misappropriation.\nThis fall a committee of five to seven students, who will be chosen from a field of applicants, will meet with various student factions including student government, greek representatives and the Student Recreational Sports Association (SRSA) to determine the activity fee. The committee's decision will be reviewed by Dean of Students Richard McKaig and Chancellor Sharon Brehm before being passed on to the trustees. \nMcKaig said the process is a balancing act. Naturally, some students feel they are being unduly charged for activities they will rarely, if ever, use, while others would prefer to see more activities covered by their activity fee. McKaig said while a system which would charge students according to their own individual use would be ideal, "it would prevent us from developing an expansive program." \nMcKaig said the goal is to apply the funds for the "common good" of the student body. \nEvery year student groups such as the SRSA conduct surveys to gauge student participation in various activities and services. These surveys determine what activities will be included in the activity fee. \n"We try our best to get feedback from participants and the entire student body, including non-participants," said SRSA President Brooke Albright. \nPuterbaugh intimated the surveys result in an activity fee that represents the general interests of the student body. \n"Students are paying for the programming that the majority of students participate in," Puterbaugh said.\nOne particular issue that may provoke the ire of students is the additional fee that is paid upon each visit to facilities such as the IU pool, tennis pavilion and the golf course. Puterbaugh claims the IU pool and tennis center are not covered by the activity fee because these activities are not under the authority of the Rec Sports division. But Puterbaugh said the exclusion of these activities is not due to a lack of participation though. \nAlbright said activity fees will be a priority for the SRSA this fall. \n"We'll be meeting every other week with an umbrella association, and I know that activity fees will be discussed in every meeting," Albright said. \nAmong those represented by the umbrella association, which consists of 16 groups, are club sports, the greek community and the residence halls. \nThis fall, the SRSA will also pursue additional equipment replacement and an increased budget for facility maintenance, Albright said. \nAlbright conceded that regardless of how hard the SRSA campaigns, the decisions are made by the directors of the Rec Sports division and, ultimately, the board of trustees. \n"It's really up to the supervisors. They definitely have veto power," Albright said. "However, the supervisors we have now are pretty open to our opinions." \nMcKaig said the committee's decision will likely be upheld by the board of trustees. \nMcKaig expects the student committee to reach a decision no later than February. \n"To my knowledge, every recommendation that has come from the committee in the past 20 years has been approved by the administration," McKaig said.