0 6- The Michgan Daily - Thursday, September 9, 1993 'U' budget hits students' wallets, increases faculty salaries By HOPE CALATI DAILY NEWS EDITOR - Students may be holding on to their .wallets while faculty members let out a 'sigh of relief as they feel the effects of the 1993-94 University budget. An in-state first-year student will pay between $2,175 and $2,257 in tu- ition and fees this semester. Anout-of-statefirst-yearstudentwill pay between $7,027 and $7,095. This is the ninth consecutive tuition increase. It will generate an additional $26 million for the University. Alarge portion of the increased fund- ing will be directed toward merit salary increases for faculty members. Faculty members will be rewarded for their participation in the "shared sacrifice" budget of last year that froze faculty salaries. Y JEach department will receive a 2.5- percent increase in its budget for merit raises. In-state undergraduates are paying 9.5 percent more than last year and out- of-state undergraduates are paying 6.5 percent more. In-state Law students will feel the biggest bite with a 17.3 percent tuition increase to $5,269. Out-of-state Law students pay $9,256. Public institutions are bringing their out-of-state tuition rates up to the levels ofprivate schools whileremaining com- petitive, said University President James Duderstadt when the University Board of Regents set the tuition levels at its July meeting. The $330 million generated by tu- ition and fees - along with revenues generated by state appropriations, fed- eral government payments for indirect research costs and other places --fund the $671 million University budget. This money funds increases in fi- nancialaid,merit salary increases, fixed cost increase, and academic expendi- tures - such as more labs for under- graduates and smaller "gateway" classes for first-year students and fund- ing of the minority faculty hiring pro- gram. Although more money is budgeted for financial aid, students will be feel- ing the squeeze. 'We want to increase the propor- tion of gift aid," said University Pro- vost and Vice President for Academic Affairs Gilbert Whitaker. "At least we'll keep the increase of gift aid relatively the same." The Office of Financial Aid has estimated that an in-state student will have to budget $11,200 to pay for all expenses inthe 1993-94 academic year. Michigan Student Assembly Presi- dent Craig Greenberg told the regents during the public comments session, "I am afraid that if tuition continues to rise at the rate it has been, Michigan will cease to be one of the best deals in higher education." The Committee on the Economic Status of the Faculty recommended thatthe regents make salary increases a high priority. Committee Chair Prof. John Tropman said, "We're certainly pleased that there is a salary program this year, and we're sorry that it al- ways gets linked with tuition." He noted that both tuition and sala- ries are set at the beginning of the fiscal year. Tropman said, although faculty members were willing to sacrifice for one year, problems may have arisen had there been no increase this year. "Michigan has a number of things that are attractive ... not just salary," Tropman said. "The problem, of course, is that the people with the most talent go elsewhere." All students pay $150 per semes- ter - included in tuition costs - which funds the infrastructure main- tenance fee that was instituted in 1991 to pay for building damage resulting from natural use. Studentsalsopay $6.62to fund the Michigan Student Assembly and Stu- dent Legal Services and a $92 health fee for use of the University Health Ser- vices. The University Board of Regents passed the budget, 7-1. Regent Deane Baker (R-Ann Arbor), the sole dissent- ing vote, said, "I'm not going to support this because I really think we have to find some way to stop it.... The only way to stop tuition rises is to stop tuition rises." Baker criticized the budget archi- tects for not including the infrastructure fee in the tuition increase. "I'd rather we say we're raising the cost of the institution 12 percent instead of breaking them apart," Baker said. RegentJames Waters (D-Muskegon) said, "I wish we could have the same quality without the increase, but it's impossible to do that." University Hospitals' $589 million operating expense budget, calling for no increase, was passed by the regents earlier this summer. John Forsythe, executive director of University Hospitals, said the health center's budget was a "transitional" budget. He said hehopes it will success- fully bridge the current system of fund- ing medical costs and Hillary Rodham Clinton's yet-to-be-announced health care plan. Universities across the nation raise tuition to counter dwindling funds 0 By JEN DIMASCIO DAILY STAFF REPORTER Michigan's state universities are not the only ones feeling the pinch of increasing tuition rates. Public univer- sities around the nation are faced with similar constraints on education bud- gets. The Ohio state legislature estab- lished a 5-percent cap on tuition in- creases last year, but The Ohio State University (OSU) pushed its tuition to the state'smaximum this year, with in- state students paying $2,940. Students at OSU complain that classes close as a result of Ohio's dwindling dollars and sometimes force them to attend OSU for a fifth year. Steve Sterret, director of news ser- vices at OSU agreed that the restraint on tuition increases has caused prob- lems for the university in recent years. He said the rise in tuition will not open as many classes as he had hoped, but faculty and staff will receive a salary increase for the first time in two years. In addition to limited state fund- ing, some universities face the burden of reviving buildings and facilities that have been long deferred. Here at the University of Michi- gan, $50 was added to each student's infrastructure maintenance fee-for- merly $100. The fee will cover the cost of repairing items such as water fountains, fume hoods, pipes and el- evators. Officials at both Michigan State University and the University of Cali- fornia at Berkeley said their tuition increases this year were partially used to fund repair of campus facilities. But California's deficit problems also added to the 22.2 percent in- crease this year. Bob Sanders, Berkeley's public information spokesperson said con- straints on state funding have made it difficult to improve curriculum. He added that most of the money will fill in gaps left from years of cutbacks. He lamented the fact that an af- fordable education escapes the reach of more students each year. 'We've tried to offset some of the increase in financial aid but some students always fall in between," Sand- ers said. Students, community clash over the Rock By BRYN MICKLE DAILY STAFF REPORTER The historical boulder that rests at the cor- ner of Hill Street qnd Washtenaw Avenue al- most became ancient history. In June, the Oxbridge Neighborhood Asso- ciation petitioned the Ann Arbor City Council toremove the Rock and clean up the surround- ing area. Oxbridge members argued that van- dalism to the area is out of control and people who paint the Rock create a disturbance late at night. They also complained that toxic sub- stances from the paints contaminate the sur- rounding water and ground. It is a long-standing tradition in Ann Arbor to'paint the Rock with everything from politi- cal slogans to eternal declarations of undying love. Many Oxbridge members would be elated to see that tradition come to an end. 'That area is attracting a lot of vandalism," said Oxbridge President Peter Pleitner. The only solution, he said, was to move the Rock out of the neighborhood. Many Ann Arbor residents and students disagreed with the Oxbridge proposal and said a compromise could be reached. Michigan Student Assembly Vice Presi- dent Brian Kight criticized Oxbridge and the city for trying to remove the Rock while Uni- versity students were on vacation. "A lot of people think the decision should not involve students," he said. "As if students are separate from the community." To decide the argument, the Ann Arbor Parks Advisory Commission - the group re- sponsible for maintaining the park in which the Rock is located - held a public forum in July to obtain community input on the matter. One week later, the Parks Commission presented a compromise. In a resolution, the Commission promised to: clean up the site by mid-August; place a trash can at the site, as well as signs prohibiting painting park objects other than the Rock; convene a committee to investigate moving the Rock to allow for a complete environmental clean-up; accept further public input on the is- sue; and, develop a patrol system around the Rock. The Commission promised to submit a final recommendation based on the success of the proposed guidelines by December. Kight cautioned students to respect the Rock and its neighbors. "If wedon'tpitch in, there'seven more of arisk the city will do something we don'tlike with the Rock," he said. University President James Duderstadt said the Rock is a special part of Ann Arbor. The famous Rock rests at the corner of Hill St. and Washtenaw Ave. SUSAN ISAAK/OaIly Add More Living Room To Your Dorm Room. Textbooks 1] Clean (?) underwear space without subtracting much from your wallet. Use different colors to complement those FEATTURiING: /\IS ^AA .. .