Student computer fee up for vote

Monday, Oct. 18, 1999 | 9:33 a.m.

The Board of Regents will vote this week on a $4-per-credit fee for students to help pay for computer labs in Nevada's university system.

Campus presidents will pitch the proposal - which would add about $100 to a full-time college student's annual bill - during the regents' meeting Thursday and Friday at the University of Nevada, Las Vegas.

A number of students are criticizing the proposed surcharge as too much of a burden in the face of other costs such as tuition and books.

Dave Abramson, student body president of Community College of Southern Nevada, said he could support a "one-time hit" to students' pocketbooks that would help replace old computers and buy more equipment.

But he fears the fee will become permanent, along with another tuition increase scheduled for fall 2000. The new computer fee would go into effect in January.

"Most students really don't want it, but they don't want their education to suffer, either," Abramson said. "If we can do it another way, I'd rather not have the students taxed with the $4-per-credit fee."

But Elizabeth Passarelli, a junior at UNLV, said she doesn't mind the fee.

"If it goes to our needs, I'm fine with it," the marketing major said. "We'll pay for it anyway, if we don't have better equipment and programs. We'll pay for it by not getting the best education."

University of Nevada, Reno Vice President of Student Services Shannon Ellis has said the fee is modest compared to those charged at other colleges and universities.

But Regent Mark Alden said he plans to vote against the fee.

"No way. Every time we turn around, there's another fee for the students to worry about," he said.

Campus administrators should rearrange their spending priorities if replacing computers and getting more technical support to students is such a high priority, Alden said.

The fee would be assessed to all students statewide. Each school would spend revenues it generated.

The fee would generate more than $1 million per year each for UNR and UNLV.