University officials are considering charging students living in residence halls an Ethernet-access fee in addition to room and board rates beginning in the 2003-04 academic year.
Such a measure would be a cheap way of passing the buck to students.
David Gist, MSU’s vice provost for libraries, computing and technology, said Housing & Food Services will have to propose the fee in April to the MSU Board of Trustees as a part of the housing-rates budget before it approves the university’s 2003-04 budget because on-campus Internet traffic is exponentially rising.
Officials say Internet traffic in campus buildings has increased about 500 percent in the past 18 months, and about half of that percentage is said to be from students living in the residence halls.
The University of Michigan charges students living in residence halls an Internet-access fee of $59 per computer. Students also face additional nonhousing rates if they exceed the specific amount of time allotted for Internet use in the fee.
MSU’s Ethernet installation project began in 1996, and every dorm was equipped with the free service by 2001. The cost to the university was $500 per room - about $11 million total.
Gist said if MSU decides to implement an Ethernet fee, it would be similar to U-M’s access charge, although students would not be charged for the amount of time spent online.
Extra charges or not, a possible Ethernet fee for students living on campus is a cheap way to skirt the issue of rising costs.
While the bottom line is the money to pay MSU’s Ethernet bill must come from somewhere, a special fee is not the answer.
If housing costs are going to require more money for Ethernet use, then raise housing costs accordingly. Don’t try to make it look as though on-campus living costs are not going up by imposing an unnecessary additional fee.
It seems wrong to penalize students with extra fees for requirements imposed by the university - another example:MSU’s matriculation fee.
All incoming freshmen are required to have a computer and many classes require a number of Internet-based assignments. Students shouldn’t have to pay extra to do their homework - textbook prices are outrageous enough.
University leaders go down a dangerous path when they start tacking on fees to mend financial troubles. In one way or another, students are going to have to pay for their Ethernet use.
The university would be right to call this issue what it is and up housing costs to accommodate added costs, rather than tacking on fees.
Granted, MSU leaders pride themselves on and boast one of the lowest housing costs in the Big Ten, but they cannot maintain that title by tacking on fees to make it look as though the price of on-campus living isn’t rising as well.
If MSU leaders implement an Ethernet fee, they will be dishonest to their students and themselves about the costs of on-campus living.
If they need to raise housing rates, then MSU officials need to do just that. Don’t find a cheap way around the issue.
