Senate discusses increase in Student Activity Fee

The Student Senate discussed the budget cuts to College organizations and the need to increase the Student Activity Fund at its meeting this week. Currently, students pay $156 per year into the fund. The fee was raised a few years ago, but Senators contend that there is clearly a need for the fee to be raised.

Senators were not specific on the amount the fee would be raised. They decided not to put the issue of raising the fee on the Senate election ballot this week because of unanswered questions with the Student Finance Committee on the amount of the increase.

"Ultimately it is our decision," senior Senator Chapin Benninghoff said about the choice to raise the fee.

If a referendum is put on a ballot, 50 percent of the student body must vote and a simple majority must approve the fee raise. Preliminary estimates of the fee raise are around $10 to $20. Senior Senator Dan Persky said the estimates were random numbers thrown out, though. He said he has not heard any concrete numbers with any justification behind them.

The Senate decided to wait until after next week's elections in order to address the fee-raise issue with a full senate.

Next week the Senate will be holding elections for the incoming class to elect new senators. Persky said there are at least enough candidates to fill the open seats, but he said they still need a Conservatory student. The nominations will end on Sunday, with the election slated to run from Monday until Friday or until 20 percent of the student body votes.

The Senate also discussed its attendance of the September 2 General Faculty meeting. At the meeting, President of the College Nancy Dye reported statistics on the incoming class of first-years. Senator sophomore Bobbi Lopez was disappointed that Dye did not mention statistics regarding retention of African-American, Asian-American and Latino Students in her highlights of admissions numbers.

The Senate hotly contested the move by the College to recruit and admit more students from Ohio and the midwest.

"Doubling the number from any state is a major policy change," Benninghoff said. The Senate acknowledged that the attempt to increase in-state enrollment would better College relations and visibility within the state, but one senator noted a hypocrisy in the simultaneous phasing out of Lorain County Community College transfer students.

"I don't understand the rationale behind it at all," Associate Dean of Student Life Bill Stackman, who attended the meeting, said about the policy.

The Senate briefly touched on the charters of a few organizations, granting approval to Aikido and Ice Hockey pending minor corrections.