Students may have to move some extra weight when returning to Iowa State’s residence halls this fall — extra money that is.

If everything goes as planned, students will be faced with an 11 percent rate increase for double-occupancy dorm rooms. The total room and board rate increase for 1997-98 will be 7.5 percent, with a 3.8 percent meal plan rate increase.

Randy Alexander, director of the Department of Residence, said the immense percent increase in the room rate will help with improvements in the residence halls.

“The current room and board rates aren’t enough to currently operate and maintain the buildings,” Alexander said. “We have to generate some revenue to turn this around.”

Although the rate increase may seem overwhelming to many ISU students and their parents, ISU continues to rank low in room and board rates when compared to other universities.

In a report by the Department of Residence, ISU would only rank above the University of Kansas, University of Nebraska and Kansas State University in room and board rates in the Big 12 Conference.

The total room and board expense would go from $3,647 to $3,921 per semester.

“Our goal was that our rate would always be lower than our competitors,” he said. “We need to look at schools that our students are actually considering going to.”

Iowa schools may be known for their quality in education, but according to Alexander they should also be known for their reasonable room and board rates.

According to the report, Iowa Regents schools continue to rank among the lowest in their conference. If the 7.5 percent room and board rate increase passes, ISU will continue to rank second between the University of Iowa and the University of Northern Iowa.

Alexander said he believes the U of I will propose a 4.36 percent room and board rate increase and UNI a 5.5 to 7 percent room and board rate increase.

With the jump in the room and board rate, Alexander said the Department of Residence was trying to increase the base rate all at once, so future rate increases would only be inflationary.

The only proposed inflationary rate for next year is the meal plan rate increase of 3.8 percent.

Recent improvements, like those being performed on Maple Hall, are something Alexander said he hopes to see more of in a few years. He said the money collected for the rate increase will go directly to intentional and emergency improvements and the remainder will be taken from the department’s reserve fund for future renovations.

The most talked about future renovations seem to be those regarding what Alexander is calling the “Master Plan.”

He said two versions of the Master Plan were delivered to ISU President Martin Jischke earlier this week. Alexander would not comment on the specifics of the plan, but did say they have to be reviewed by Jischke and then presented to the Board of Regents.

One renovation is already in the works for next year. The Regents approved the closing of Maple Hall this fall for extensive remodeling.

“Within the next few years we plan to do a lot more renovations,” Alexander said.

In a more pressing matter, residence hall students will soon vote on whether to add cable television to their room rate.

Currently, each residence house collects money from the students for cable services. But if passed, every student will have cable through the university at a cost of $36 per year.

Residents who order basic and expanded cable through their house pay a reduced rate of $9.40 per room a month, according to the report.

Alexander said if residents decide to add cable to their room rates, there would be no cable hook-up fee.

However, not all students have television sets or want cable.

The cable debate will be decided by in-house voting. To help make the vote fair, Alexander said the Inter-Residence Hall Association has decided to count the votes individually rather than by house.

“I’m interested to see how the cable issue will turn out,” Alexander said.