Graduate student council votes on fee proposals

By Elizabeth zinchuk

The Graduate and Professional Student Council voted to support two of five proposed fee increases during its Tuesday meeting.

Members voted 18-5 to support the facilities maintenance and 17-6 information technology fee changes. The council also voted against the athletics, student activity and insurance fee changes. The meeting also included a new member election.

Peter Lucas, vice president for administrative affairs, said the university has often dismissed some insurance options in the past because officials assume students do not want to pay higher fees.

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“The issue we have is that we have been asking them to explore options,” he said.

Lucas said many GPSC members were hesitant to support or reject the insurance fee increase because they believe the university has not researched available insurance options.

“Graduate students are not automatically against paying more for better coverage,” he said. “Those of us with spouses or children

would really like a comprehensive insurance plan and wouldn’t mind paying more.”

Among the disapproved fees, Peggy Burke, a graduate student studying educational administration, said the athletic fee should not be raised when the athletes are unable to control their actions.

“It is disappointing to me when we have losses, but when you have behavior and discipline issues with the players they have to learn to act like adults,” Burke said.

Lucas said the athletics fee is important to help make up for lost revenue.

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“Revenue is down, and they want to keep commissions the same,” Lucas said.

Besides voting on fees, GPSC elected a new member. Matthew Ryg, a graduate student in philosophy, was elected to represent the graduate council on the research committee. Ryg replaced Benny LeMaster, a graduate student in speech communication.

“I will show up and represent you well,” Ryg said.

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