Students may be required to pay an additional 65 cents per credit hour up to 12 hours to support a proposed bond revenue fee increase approved Wednesday by the student senate.

After the 12-hour time period, the fee increase will drop to 50 cents per credit hour for the following four years.

The resolution prompted extensive debate from senate members before ultimately passing by a vote of 24-3-1.

Jarrod Scherle, vice president for business affairs, referenced the cracks he has observed in the walls of Lantz Arena and encouraged senate members to vote in favor of the resolution for the sake of safety.

“That crack running down the middle looks like a stiff breeze will knock down the wall,” Scherle said. “I would sleep better knowing that would be fixed. We could sit here and twiddle our thumbs, waiting for the state to pay us, or we can take action.”

Fellow senate member Alex Boyd also expressed a concern for safety because he witnessed a student slip and break his leg on the basketball court in Lantz last semester.

“Just because we would get this money from students doesn’t mean we won’t get our money from the state,” Boyd said. “It’s still going to come, and this is a big deal for us.”

Senate member John Poshepny voiced his opposition to the fee increase.

“This project could go way over the estimate,” Poshepny said while pounding on the table.

Senate member Zach Caskey echoed his concern.

“We just passed the fee increases, and I can’t stomach anymore,” Caskey said. “We talk about wanting to take responsibility of our own school, but when the state sees that, they assume we’re doing fine and don’t see a need to help.”

Caskey said making students support the Lantz renovations through a fee would show state legislators that Eastern is not in need of funding and would relieve them of their responsibility to provide for the state-funded institution.

Other senators said the majority of the student body they spoke to about the proposed fee increase were not in favor of the resolution and worried the school would continue to turn to students every time a campus building requires maintenance.

Lindsey Woodcock, co-chair of the internal affairs committee, urged senators to consider the number of students who frequent Lantz daily.

“We pride ourselves in being one of the lowest-cost schools in the state,” Woodcock said. “It’s time to take pride in the university and take your pick, whether you want people paying another 65 cents or taking their entire tuition to another university.”

The senate also passed a resolution to encourage the university to lease shuttle buses capable of transporting a larger number of passengers. The resolution cited the fee all students must pay to support the service, stating that students should not be turned down based on limited seating.

Members also voted to table four resolutions, including two stipulating revisions: one for the Student Action Team bylaws and the other for the Committee on Bylaw Revision Adoption.

The others were an informal training committee for new senators and a resolution to allocate $470 for travel to the Illinois Board of Higher Education Student Advisory Committee conference at the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign for the weekend of May 29.

Erica Whelan can be reached at 581-7942 or elwhelan@eiu.edu