Thirteen years after a study looking into the feasibility of a campus-sponsored day care center did not produce a program, the same obstacle is getting in the way: money.

“Both that study and this study, it all came down to two conclusions,” said President Lou Hencken. “Everyone thought it’d be a wonderful idea and how do we pay for it?”

In 1992, a committee spent almost a year investigating whether a day care program would work for Eastern, Hencken said.

Hencken added that money was the main factor that contributed to not starting a program. But competition with established day care centers in town was another concern, he said.

Dirk Muffler, last year’s student vice president for student affairs, worked with the Faculty Senate and sent Hencken a letter asking if Eastern would be interested in discussing the issue, Hencken said.

Hencken replied and brought up the concerns discovered in 1992.

The difference was that the school set up a committee to investigate for nearly a year in 1992 while this year it was an idea and not a long-term investigation, he said.

“(They) had an idea that perhaps we need to look at the area of day care on campus,” Hencken said.

Keila Lacy, current student vice president for student affairs, was not satisfied with the conclusion.

“I hope someone reopens it and does further investigation,” she said. “It’d help faculty and students alike. We are doing them a disservice.”

Michelle Luna, a senior sociology major and single mother, said that missing out on meetings for organizations and the lessening of homework time are the effects of not having a school-sponsored day care program.

“That is awful as a single mom on campus,” Luna said. “Some women feel they can’t go on going to school (after having a child).”

The idea is a good one, but the cost is just too high, Hencken said.

“Day care is a very expensive proposition if you have not established a program,” he said.

Among the expenses that had to be considered were the cost of a location, staff that had to be certified, insurance and building costs.

Blair Lord, provost and vice president for academic affairs, informed Student Senate that the issues with the old study were still around, said Chelsea Frederick, student vice president for academic affairs.

Those problems were cost, community relation problems and the problems with starting up a new business.

Barbara Warmoth, executive director of the Charleston Community Day Care Center, was on the committee that recently investigated the practicality of an on-campus day care.

“I sent a letter to both Student (Senate) and Faculty Senate to take a look at everything,” she said. “You can’t just have students come in to watch the kids.”

The certification process consists of the Department of Child and Family Services putting the day care center through a licensing process every three years, Warmoth said. DCFS then checks up on the center periodically.