6-6-97
Contacts:
Larry Cooney, Recreation Services, (515) 294-4980
Steve Jones, News Service, (515) 294-4778
LIED CENTER USER FEES TO SEE FIRST INCREASE
AMES, Iowa -- For the first time since Iowa State University's Lied Recreation Athletic Center opened in 1990, user fees will increase.
Effective Aug. 1, faculty and staff users will pay an additional $10 a year to use the facility. The new fee will be $80 annually, or $40 per semester. Post-doctoral researchers, approved university affiliates, retired faculty and staff, and employee spouses and dependents age 18 and over also will see a $10 rate hike and will pay $80 annually.
ISU Alumni Association members and their spouses and dependents age 18 and over now will pay $180 annually, up $30 from the current $150 rate. The rates for student spouses and student dependents will remain $30 per year.
The rate increases are needed to meet rising operational and management costs, said Larry Cooney, director of Recreation Services. "The fee increases will assist us in maintaining quality facilities and services."
Cooney also said that fees for towel and locker services will increase for the first time since 1989. The fee for locker and towel service at the Lied Center and Beyer Hall will increase $10 annually, from $40 to $50, and $5 per semester, from $20 to $25. Fees for a locker, towel and workout clothes will increase $25 annually, from $75 to $100, and $15 per semester, from $35 to $50.
Cooney said Recreation Services is able to keep open the Lied Center for recreation at least 16 hours a day through the use of student supervisors, who are paid with user fees.
ISU students do not pay a user fee, but a portion of their student fees goes to retire the debt on the building. The Lied Center was constructed with a combination of student fees and athletic department funds. Students are paying two-thirds of the cost of the facility and athletics the other one-third.
User cards may be purchased at the Lied Center service desk from 8 a.m. to 5 p.m. Monday through Friday.
Beyer Hall, State Gym and Forker Hall (the Physical Education Building) were built with state funds and do not require a facility user fee.
Cooney said ISU's recreation fees are a bargain compared to most other Big 12 Conference universities. A 1996-97 survey showed ISU has one of the lowest non-student recreation fees in the Big 12. Missouri, which charges $66.50 per year, and Texas Tech ($75), were the only schools with fees similar to ISU's. Fees at the other universities range from $97.20 to $240 annually.
Baylor and Kansas, which have limited facilities, charge no fee, according to Cooney.
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Revised
6/6/97