Rec center fee unnecessary for classes off campus

When the Marshall Recreation Center debuted in spring 2009, everyone was excited. We jumped for joy that our university had added something so extensive and modern. It was such a change from Gullickson Hall, which didn't have nearly the room, cleanliness or variety of equipment as the new rec center has.

The Office of the Bursar put up a statement under MyMU saying that students had ranked the rec center as a top priority on campus and voted for a mandatory fee for its construction. The Marshall University Board of Governors took this request and set up a mandatory, non-refundable fee to charge all undergraduates, graduates and professional students taking courses on the Huntington campus.

At the surface, this information is all well and good. The recreation center is amazing and so the word ‘expensive' puts it lightly in the cost it took to build. As students use and enjoy the rec center, it is unquestionable that we should have the responsibility to help pay for its construction.

The catch is that students still have to pay a recreation center fee even when they are off campus. For example, people may be staying at home in the summer and taking online classes, but they still are charged a recreation fee for that time span. Another example is students who may not even be taking official summer classes but are enrolled in an internship, which is probably going to be off campus in most cases, yet a fee is still charged. One student is doing this and is being charged $42.75. The problem is, she's not going to be using the rec center during this time because she's going to be living at home 70 miles away and outside commuter range.

This is not right at all. We should not be charged a fee if we are not even going to be on campus to use the rec center. We already get charged enough during the fall and spring semesters when we are taking classes on campus and are even charged a fee after we have moved on and graduated. Plus, the Board of Governors announced just last week that the fee would be increased for all students by $24.50. That puts it at $193.50 per semester for all full-time undergraduate students

In the statement by the Office of the Bursar, it said the Board of Governors would charge students taking courses on campus. In short, online classes and internships are not physically taught by a professor on campus and students will not be commuting to campus to take the class, so the fee should not be required.