Proposal Would Raise fee to cover yearbook

By Dean M. Nielsen, editor

If a proposed referendum on April's all-school election ballot is passed, students could be getting another book.

A yearbook, that is.

The Anaga is sponsoring a measure to add a permanent $11 yearly fee to tuition bills to pay for a yearbook for every full-time student, said Anaga Business Manager Scott Nass.

With about 4,500 full-time students, the fee would amount to $49,500.

Today, the yearbook will turn in the 600 signatures required for a referendum to the Student Senate Elections Subcommittee, Nass said. That committee will verify the signatures before it is placed on the April 10-11 all-school ballot.

If passed, the referendum will go to the administration, which will make the final decision on the fee hike.

"I see no problem with them passing it," Nass said, adding that many other schools such as the University of Illinois have similar fees already in effect.

The $11 fee is substantially less than the current $25 cost for the book because of volume discounts, he said.

Last year, about 450 students ordered a book, while 4,500 students would receive a book if the measure passes.

In addition, the book would no longer require money from the Student Activities Budget Review Committee, which gave the organization $11,000 this year to subsidize publishing costs.

The $11 fee already has been approved in principle by Jostens, the company that publishes Bradley's yearbook, Nass said.

"There is a provision for cost-of-living increases," he said, adding that the contract would be negotiated in three-year blocks.

Nass said despite current low yearbook sales, students will value having a yearbook.

"We have people calling and writing every day to try and get a yearbook from the '60s or '70s," he said. "Right there; that's proof itself."

Part-time students, staff and faculty will be given an opportunity to buy a book for the same $11 fee, he said.

In addition, many financial aid packages will cover the cost of student activity fees, Nass said.

The referendum comes on the heels of WRBU getting a referendum on the ballot for a one-time student fee increase of $7 to fund its efforts to go broadcast (see story Page 1).

These ballot measures come on the heels of three recent successful initiatives.

The first, in September 1993, raised the student activity fee.

The other two, on last April's ballot, raised the health fee and switched graduation to the Civic Center.