The Independent Newspaper Serving Notre Dame

The student activities fee will increase by $10 for the next academic year as a result of a proposal put forth by the executive cabinet of the Student Union in December. Next y ea r, the fee, w hich h a s no t been increased since the 1980s, will be $65. The new revenue will be divided up among stu­ dent organizations, w ith h a lf of it going to clubs. While the raise in the fee is not as high as student body vice p residen t Erek Nass had originally hoped, the Student Union is happy with the change. “Although the original proposal asked for a $15 increase, we are still pleased about the approved increase . This is som ething that has been long overdue on cam p u s,” Nass explained. The add itio n a l m oney w ill in c re a se the budget of student governm ent, which stood at $477,000 for the 1997-98 academic year, to ap p ro x im a te ly $ 5 5 0 ,0 0 0 . T h a t m oney comes from fees paid by every studen t, as well as 50 percent of the proceeds from “The Shirt” project. “The increase is very necessary and long overdue,” said SUB board m anager Andria Wisler. “It will enable us to put together bet­ te r an d m o re c o m p le te p ro g ra m m in g throughout the year.” SUB will receive approximately 10 percent of the new funding and will use the money to get more outside entertainm ent and perhaps lower ticket Costs for student events. A m ajor factor in applying for the higher fees is the increasing cost of running events through student government. Inflation alone has made a substantial dent in what can be covered by the fee. Another problem has been the increased cost of hiring entertainm ent and guest speak­ ers. “It’s been really h a rd work for p rog ram ­ mers to keep up with expensive acts,” Wisler said. Half of the revenue from the increase will be used to fund clubs and student organiza­ tions. The num ber of active clubs on campus has nearly doubled since the last fee increase in the 1980s, and only 55 percen t of funds requested by clubs wpre allocated this year. “This increase addresses a need for money for student organizations. I t’s a good thing