Health center vote pleases officials

By JACKIE WOMACK

Students voted a resounding yes to increasing their own fees last week in order to avoid losing Health Center services.

“We’re very pleased that the referendum was passed and that the students recognize the value of the Health Center,” Dr. Robert Paull, Health Center director, said.

The referendum vote, which took place Wednesday and Thursday, decided whether a fee increase of $20 per semester will begin in Fall 2005 and apply to Spring 2006. The fee will go up an additional $2 per semester, to cover inflation, beginning in Fall 2006 and lasting through Fall 2009.

The vote came out strongly in favor of the fee increase. More than 80 percent of the 489 students who voted favored increasing the fee.

Senior Erick Regalado said he saw the reason why it passed.

“I have my own insurance, but for a lot of students here, [the Health Center] is all they have,” he said. “So, it’s either pass it or lose services.”

Associated Students vice president Brent Hansen said AS was “just happy it passed.”

“The Health Center is a valuable asset to this campus,” he said. “We all recognize its need.”

Hansen said AS campaigned in favor of the fee increase, sending out senators to classes, printing up pamphlets, taking out ads and putting up signs.

The last time the fee was increased was in 1998, when students also voted for an increase. But there was a much greater turnout this time, Paull said.

In 1998, 369 students voted, compared to last week’s 489 voters.

Lisa Cunningham, a liberal studies major, said she was glad the fee passed.

“I used [the Health Center’s] services recently and they’re really helpful,” she said. “I don’t have any insurance and so it’s very, very helpful to have it here.”

She said a $20 increase wasn’t very much.

“The $20 increase would have paid for all my prescriptions yesterday [at the Health Center],” Cunning-ham said.

She said anywhere else, her prescriptions would have cost $60-$70.

“If we don’t have that here, where are we going to go,” she said.

Pre-nursing major Amber Gurnick said the increase didn’t bother her.

“It’s $20 extra for all the services [the Health Center] provides,” she said. “It’s not that much.”

Health care costs are what forced the Health Center to ask for more money: the center, which gets 97 percent of its funding from fees, saw its own employee health insurance costs almost double over the past few years.

Paull said the center’s reserve funds had covered the extra insurance costs.

“As students pay their registration, the money is credited to the health care center account, which is a trust fund,” Paull said.

Registration for Fall 2005 doesn’t begin until April 12.

“This [fee increase] is simply to maintain the status quo,” Paull said. “We’ll still be in the red. We estimate that there’ll be a $350,000 deficit this year. That will continue to draw down our reserve.”