UO Student Fees Reach a Record High of $560 per Term

The University of Oregon (UO) has hiked the student fees to a record maximum of $560 per term for the next two years. The reasons given for the raise are-the renovations of the Student Recreation Center, Erb Memorial Union, and, health services, student clubs, bus passes and other services.

In the past few years, students' fees have been in the range of $413 to $538 per term. Recently, UO students staged protests against a 5.8 percent increase in tuition and fees for the fall term.

Robin Holmes, vice president of student affairs, said that the university is increasing the students' fees for the recreation center this fall and the student union next fall.

"We tried to stagger it," Holmes said. "We didn't want to bring both online at the same time."

Holmes said that she is considering a three-year plan to enhance the revenues for ventures such as summer camps or conferences.

"We can't keep raising fees because we're going to price ourselves out of the market," she said. "A kid is not going to be able to come to school here, and they're going to go somewhere else."

Sam Dotters-Katz, the Associated Students of the University of Oregon president, said that the students who pay for the Erb Memorial Union and the Student Recreation Center might have graduated by the time the expansion and remodelling are completed.

"They wonder why they should be forced to pay for something they won't end up benefiting from," Dotters-Katz said, "but if you look around this campus, all the beautiful buildings we have and services we've received, someone else had to pay for those to have them as well."

Dotters-Katz also said that these two buildings represent student hangover spots on campus, which have become over crowded, thus calling for a reconstruction. The students no longer hangout at the recreation center as they face long queues to use the equipment.

"It's got to come from somewhere," Nicolas Rodriguez, a student, said, "and if they're student-imposed, then students are the ones wanting these new renovating things, then I can't be too upset about it."