Iowa State students pay for the right to use computer labs, but after 4 p.m. and on weekends, some labs can turn into no-charge arcades for Ames High School students.

Mark Hartman, a senior in mechanical engineering, said there are many times when he is working on a project and is interrupted by the sounds of kids in computer labs.

“I usually have only seen the younger kids coming in at night,” Hartman said.

Ian Bruner, 14, is an Ames High School student who prefers Room 206 of Durham Hall. He and his friends use the lab every Saturday, he said, and have never been kicked out. He uses the university computers because, he said, the AHS computer labs are closed shortly after school gets out and on the weekends.

“If they were open, we’d be at the high school,” Bruner said. “I know lots of kids who come here. I knew 8- or 9-year-olds who come and they know more than us about computers.”

He said university computers are faster, less restricted and allow for downloading of items from the Internet. “At the high school you can’t change the name of your disk even.”

Bruner and several other AHS students spent Saturday afternoon playing computer games such as Warcraft II and Apeiron. Others surfed the Internet.

Some students aren’t happy the high school students are using the computers at no cost.

Engineering students, like Hartman, pay $160 per semester in computer fees. Computer science students pay $125 and all other students pay $46.

“I’ve never broken down my tuition like that, and I didn’t know that I was paying that much more than other students, so I think it sucks that these kids are using the computers,” Hartman said.

Officials in Durham realize high school students may be using the labs.

“It’s possible that they [kids] are coming in and using the computers,” said Mike Bowman, assistant director of the Computation Center.

There is a list of guidelines hanging on the walls in every lab. It’s against the rules for anyone other than Iowa State students, faculty and staff to use the labs.

“If someone has problems in terms of using the labs, then we need to be notified,” Bowman said.

If the labs are full, the lab monitors may ask to see identification. The salaries of lab monitors in the Help Room at Durham Hall are partially funded by student fees.

Bowman said priority is “always” given to faculty, students and staff.

“I just hope the [high school] students are aware of the guidelines,” he said.

Still, some high school students said they rarely run into problems. Josh Sacco, a senior at AHS, has used the computers in Durham since he was a freshman.

“I use the computers whenever I have a project due at school so I guess I’ve used them a lot,” Sacco said.

He said he has been asked to show an ID before and usually the lab monitors will just ask him to finish up, leave and not to come back. Sacco usually will come back.

“I know about the guidelines, but I’m not using the computers to play games or anything,” Sacco said.

Bud Legg, associate principal at Ames High School, said the high school has three computer labs, each with about 30 computers. He said he can understand why ISU students are concerned with their computer fees.

While AHS students do not pay computer fees to the high school, Legg said perhaps ISU and AHS could reach an agreement.

“We could make an announcement that we would gladly make about using university resources they aren’t supposed to use. This is something that the university and the high school can sit down and talk about,” he said.

AHS students have been using ISU computers for sometime, he said, but no one has raised a fuss.

But Jim Vogel, a senior in mechanical engineering, objects to having high school students in the labs. He said monitors are often not around each lab and are unwilling to ask people to leave computers.

“It’s hard to draw the line. Probably the safest move is that they are not allowed,” he said.

Some ISU students are sympathetic.

Heather Neuman, a sophomore in computer science, said she does not mind having AHS students in the labs but feels they should pay a fee.

“I think it’s OK as long as no one else needs it, but if someone else needs it, they should get off.” However, she said AHS should find a way to let students have better access to computers or pay ISU computer fees for high school students.