All residence hall students will be assessed a charge for ethernet connections in their rooms beginning next fall.

A bill proposing that all ISU dormitory residents, regardless of whether they own a computer, pay for the ethernet was passed by a vote of 20-2 at the Inter-Residence Hall Association meeting Thursday.

Students will be charged $54 for two semesters of ethernet use, and there will be no installation or reconnection fees, according to the bill. Director of Residence Randy Alexander was at the meeting to speak on the bill’s behalf.

“[The bill] seemed to make economic sense,” Alexander said. “We think that rooms having two computers in use will increase in the future.”

Amy Sywassink, director of conferences for IRHA, said she had hoped the bill would pass since there had been earlier ethernet bills that had failed in the parliament.

“People use other people’s computers on their floors because they don’t want to pay,” Sywassink said. “They’re being taken advantage of.”

A bill proposing $200 for the AIDS Walk 2000 had its first read during the meeting. If passed at this week’s meeting, the bill, written by Union Drive Association President Erin Link and Richardson Court Association President Nathan Ohrt, will give $200 to the fund-raiser from the IRHA discretionary fund. AIDS Walk 2000 is a 5K event, and proceeds will go toward the Story County AIDS Coalition.

In other news, IRHA may be reviving the Inter-Residence Hall Association of the Year Awards, according to a bill written by Link and Ohrt. The bill will recognize undergraduate residents and floors that show leadership and participation within the residence halls. The awards will be reviewed and judged by IRHA’s Academic Affairs Committee and will be financed by allocating $500 from the IRHA discretionary fund.