Friday, May 4, 2007
As the school year comes to a close, students returning can expect to see their student fee increases at work around campus.
Student fees increased this semester by $54.75. Students will be able to see $30.75 of those increases at work shortly after returning to the University in the fall.
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Santos Núñez, director of the Multicultural Resource Center, said an expected completion date for the center was set for the end of fall semester. An opening is projected for January 2008. The new building would offer students more study space.
A $20 increase in transportation fees provided newer buses for the University. Students who use campus transit will enjoy buses that are handicap accessible. Students choosing to walk on campus will enjoy not having exhaust spew in their faces; the buses are equipped with top exhaust.
Danny Kaiser, assistant director of parking and transit, said a contract had been signed to acquire 20 buses from California. The buses are a 1990 model.
Kaiser said there were two contracts pending for three and five buses out of Minnesota. Those eight buses, 1994 models, were last used in Denver.
The buses from California have been guaranteed to be on campus by August 1.
Kaiser said the buses would have the same color scheme as the current Park and Ride buses.
The SafeRide increase of $4, approved by students in the Student Senate elections, provides SafeBus.
SafeBus will provide students with a safe, reliable way to and from nightlife on the weekends.
Tom Cox, Shawnee junior and head of the SafeBus subcommittee, said ideally there would be two buses on each of the three routes.
The routes laid out run on Kentucky and Tennessee streets, by Campus Court at Naismith, Meadowbrook, Daisy Hill, GSP-Corbin Hall and many sororities and fraternities. Because buses are difficult to drive on Massacusettes Street, the buses will circle the strip on Vermont and New Hampshire streets.
This summer the subcommittee plans to work on finalizing bus contractors and security. The buses will be equipped with security cameras and officers in the case of emergencies.
Cox said that if things go smoothly during the summer, SafeBus would be running within the first few weeks of school.
The construction for the Sabatini Multicultural Resource Center began in May 2006.
Funds for the construction of the building were provided by the University, a donation from the Sabatini family and student fees. Students pay $3.50 to cover the construction fee.
In the fall, students begin paying $1.75 more per semester toward the center. A full-time front desk position will be funded with $1.50 of the increase. The remaining 25 cents will fund long-term maintenance for the facility.
Santos Núñez, director of the Multicultural Resource Center, said an expected completion date for the center was set for the end of fall semester. An opening is projected for January 2008. The new building would offer students more study space.
Beginning in the fall the MRC will control Senate’s multicultural education fund. Student groups needing funds will work in conjunction with the MRC and Senate.
An expanded blanket of wireless internet can be expected to cover the University by fall of 2008. A $5 per semester student fee, along with Student Senate funds and a fee match by the University, covers expansion costs.
Once the expansion is complete, wireless will cover nearly 100 percent of campus.
Allison Lopez, public relations and marketing manager for information services, said new back end work was being done because the current system could not handle the new technology that will make wireless stronger on campus. Preliminary work on the project began this spring and will continue through the fall semester.
Students won’t be able to physically see the progress of the expansion. By mid-fall students will experience more wireless capabilities in Wescoe, Strong and Fraser Halls.
Lopez said estimates projected more wireless access in Mallot, Murphy, Summerfield, Haworth, Blake, Lindley and Robinson Halls by the end of the fall 2007 semester.
Unlike fee increases that set off inflation, these increases provide tangible evidence of how student money is being spent.
Kansan staff writer Ashlee Kieler can be contacted at akieler@kansan.com.
— Edited by Will McCullough
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