UNIVERSITY COSTS CLIMB $3,000 IN LAST DECADE

Full-time students will be paying more than $5,000 to live on campus and attend Southeast Missouri State University for the 1992-93 academic year.

That cost has climbed by more than $3,000 over the past 10 years, university budget figures show.

Student leader K.C. Martin believes the cost to students is too high.

"I think that money is an exorbitant amount for a regional institution in the Southeast Missouri region," said Martin, whose one-year term as Student Government president ended last week.

Martin believes the cost of attending Southeast is at a breaking point as far as students are concerned.

If student fees continue to rise, Martin predicts enrollment will drop. "I think they are going to see a serious decline in enrollment, I really do.

"Common sense would tell you, we are at the breaking point and students are pretty much fed up," said Martin.

Incidental, textbook, and student activity fees are expected to total more than $2,200 for the coming school year, while room-and-board costs involving a 20-meal plan and double occupancy will cost $3,085.

In all, a full-time student could be paying $5,313 to attend Southeast in the coming school year. And that doesn't even include the parking permit of $40 a year for residence-hall students with cars on campus.

Total fee costs could actually be even higher since university officials are considering raising textbook rental charges. Currently, textbook rental charges for full-time students total $90 a year. The current charge is $9 a course, up to a cap of $45 a semester, said Art Wallhausen, assistant to the president at Southeast.

But university officials are looking at increasing it to $12 per course, with no cap, Wallhausen said.

As to room and board charges, Wallhausen said many students pay for 15 meals a week rather than the 20-meal plan. The 15-meal plan and room charges for the next school year will total $2,965, compared with $2,745 for this academic year, he said.

Martin said the ever-increasing cost of attending Southeast is particularly a problem for low-income students in this region.

He complained that the university is "trying to balance the budget on the backs of students. They are constantly turning to students to ask for more money."

Martin's successor as Student Government president, Derek Hudson, said he's concerned about rising tuition, but recognizes the need for revenue.

"Of course, rising tuition is a concern, but I will not come out and say every time they raise tuition, I am going to automatically oppose it," said Hudson. Students, he explained, want a quality education.

Hudson, a past president of the Association for Black Collegians, is the first black to be elected Student Government president at Southeast. Hudson defeated Martin and two other candidates in an election last month.

Hudson said he believes his election will encourage other blacks, as well as international students, to become involved in Student Government.

"It shows the university is making some progress toward diversity," said Hudson.

Hudson's predecessor, Martin, has been an outspoken student leader at Southeast.

"I didn't go into office with the intentions of bowing down to anybody," Martin said recently as he reflected on his tenure as Student Government president.

"If you don't stand up and voice your opinions, you are going to never get anything accomplished," he observed.

Martin said his goal as president was to allow students' views to be heard, both on campus and off.

"The community needs to know what is going on around campus just as much as anybody else," he said.

Martin said that while many students are frustrated with ever-rising costs to attend college, they often don't speak up.

"I really do think that unless students start waking up and say, `We have had enough, knock it off, or we are out of here,' it (fees) will continue to go up and up."

Martin said it's not enough for student leaders to voice their concerns. "You can't be a one-man show.

"Until the student body starts getting up in arms, nothing is going to happen," said Martin.

He said that in these times of tight state funding, Southeast should not be looking to expand its academic programs.

"This is not the right time to be doing this," he said. "I think they really need to seriously assess the interest and weigh the costs."

He suggested the university look at renting out space to private businesses, such as fast-food restaurants. "They could turn that University Center into the biggest mini-mall in Cape. It might boil down to students paying for stuff, but it's stuff they want."

Many other universities have such mini-malls on campus, he explained.

Martin said that shows there are ways to raise revenue besides hiking student fees.

Martin conceded that his outspoken ways didn't always sit well with the administration. But he believes students should have a say in the operation of the university.

"If you are footing the bills, you should be getting what you want, and I don't think we are getting what we want," he said.

"The students are the consumers of the university," added Martin. Without the students, this place does not exist."

Each of Missouri's boards of regents has a student representative. But the students don't have voting rights.

Martin said he thinks that since students are paying a third of the cost of operating Southeast Missouri State, they should have a voting member on the Board of Regents.

"We do make up one third of the budget. This is coming out of our pockets," said Martin. "Why shouldn't we have a say?"