Residence hall students will pay 3.8 percent more for room and board next fall after rate increases were approved by the Inter-Residence Hall Association Thursday.

“While students dislike rate increases, the proposed changes are not beyond a student’s ability to pay, and are, in fact, inflationary rate changes,” said Kyle Perkins, president of Towers Residence Association.

There was no debate during the meeting on whether to approve the increased rates for the 2004-05 academic year, and IRHA members almost unanimously voted for the proposed rates in a 18-1 vote.

Room and board rates have increased by 5 percent or more during the past five years. The increases were passed as part of an effort to accommodate the Department of Residence’s Master Plan.

The 3.8 percent room and board rate increase includes a $14 fee that will be assigned to residence hall students’ contracts to increase the bandwidth of the current Internet access, said Perkins, sophomore in pre-business.

Keith Dahlby, IRHA director of information technology, said increasing the bandwidth from 30 megabits per second to 60 megabits per second would increase Internet speeds up to those provided off-campus through cable modem connections.

Dahlby, senior in computer engineering, said it would be cheaper for residence hall students to pay the extra $14, because students living off-campus may pay up to $40 for their connection.

Dan Burke, Barton-Lyon-Freemen-Fisher-Nickell representative and senior in computer engineering, said residence hall students might not notice increased speed checking their WebMail, but certainly would when using search engines.

Eric Peters, president of IRHA, said increased bandwidth will make Internet speeds faster, and the cost to increase might be more expensive in the future.

Peters said the bandwidth needs to increased now because more students will use the Internet once a new suite building in Union Drive Association opens.