The Computation Advisory Committee (CAC) presented a proposal to the Government of the Student Body at its meeting Wednesday night, recommending an increase in the student computer fee to enhance university computer laboratories.

The student computer fee, established in 1991, is $51 per student for the 1999-2000 school year.

“Maintenance and upgrade costs are so high that they consume more money than is received from the current student computer fee, leaving no funds for more innovative uses of computers,” said Brad Powers, chairman of the CAC fee adjustment subcommittee.

CAC formed the committee to investigate the current computer fee process and develop possible solutions, said Powers, senior in biology.

Based on random student interviews and investigation of costs versus revenue generated by student fees, the committee arrived at a proposal to increase the computer fee from $51 to $90 per year.

“The computer fee has remained generally unchanged over the years, except for minor inflation,” Powers said. “We also found a dramatic increase in computer users since 1991.”

The students interviewed by the committee said they often had problems finding a computer lab that wasn’t full, Powers said.

“There is a higher demand for computer use, but the fee has stayed the same,” he said. “The students said they would be willing to pay a substantially higher fee, $100 to $110 more, if they would see improvement in the labs.”

Brent Welder, freshman in pre-journalism and mass communication, said as an off-campus student, he spends a significant amount of time in the public computer labs on campus and has not encountered any difficulties.

“In the three weeks this year, I’ve never been in a full lab,” he said.

The committee examined many possible solutions and concluded a higher fee would be best.

“It’s simple,” Powers said. “One increase would eliminate our problems.”

Several GSB senators were dissatisfied with the proposal.

“It blows my mind that students have to pay $39 dollars more a year due to a lack of planning,” said Alex Olson, off campus.

GSB passed a motion to refer the proposal back to the committee for further research.