Archived: Nov 26, 2007

> Editorial

Don’t let them raise UPASS Fees

By Russel Scott

For all students who use their University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee UPASS – and we are a very large segment of the student population – once again the Parking & Transit Office is trying to find a way to raise your fees. Last year, they attempted to raise the segregated fee students pay for the UPARK shuttle buses, to pay for interest debt payments on a campus parking ramp. That got shot down because I was sitting on the finance committee last year. Apparently now the Parking & Transit Office is putting together the outlines of a proposal through the recently created transportation committee, and in front of the Senate Finance Committee, to assess every student who uses the UPASS, such that we would have to pay a daily surcharge every day that we as a bus rider use the bus.

For the majority of our UWM students who depend on taking the bus to school everyday, this is a ridiculous idea! Not only is it an obvious increase in the amount of student dollars being sucked out of our pockets, there may be students on the committee who plan to vote in favor of the idea! The committee was set to complete deliberations on November 17th. However, any such ridiculous idea to raise your fee, in any form, has to be approved by the Senate.

I strongly encourage you to e-mail your student representatives at sa-all@uwm.edu right now and let them know you do not want to have to pay any fee when you use your UPASS to come to school everyday! This is already paid for in your segregated fee, so let your representatives know you DO NOT want to have to pay twice to use your UPASS!

> Comments

Dan Bahr on Nov 26, 2007 at 12:18 AM:

Hello,

I just want to inform you all that there is no proposed fee of any amount involving the UPASS program. In fact the segregated fee allocation assessed to students for this program is not changing at all this year. NO CHANGE IS OCCURING TO THE UPASS PROGRAM AT ALL.

Dan Bahr

Kyle Duerstein on Nov 26, 2007 at 08:06 AM:

There will not be a user fee for the UPASS program, however, it is important to note that there is a proposed fee for the UPARK program, the satellite parking lots where students can park and ride the yellow school bus to campus. For more information on that proposal, visit http://panthertalklive.blogspot.com/2007/11/upark-will-more-than-likely-have-user.html

Dan Bahr on Nov 27, 2007 at 12:44 AM:

Hey Kyle,

Read the comment on your blog:

http://panthertalklive.blogspot.com/2007/11/upark-will-more-than-likely-have-user.html

This is a great article for those interested in the UPARK issue. I could not agree more. Kudos to Kyle for his work on this issue on behalf of students. His work on the Physical Enviroment Committee is much appreciated.

Daniel Bahr

Russel Scott on Nov 27, 2007 at 01:21 AM:

I just had a discussion with the Speaker of the Senate, Daniel V. Bahr, and both Dan Bahr and Kyle Duerstein are correct. I sent a corrected editorial on November 17th that the word 'UPASS' has to be replaced with the word 'UPARK' in the editorial above, which does make the article accurate. However, it apparently did not make the print deadline.

The Speaker of the Senate informs me that the committee decided to table the user fee, and since UPARK is a critical service to our students at UWM, seek other funding sources so that our students do not have to pay this higher fee.

Russel Scott

Russel Scott on Nov 27, 2007 at 06:29 AM:

Regarding the report in the UWM Post, (“City generates more than $20 million annually in parking tickets, Oct. 29) the availability of street parking continues to be an ongoing issue that interconnects with the issue of how essential the UPARK is for our UWM Students. For all students who use the University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee UPARK Service, which is a very large segment of our student population, once again the Parking & Transit Office has attempted to try to raise our fees. Last year, they attempted to raise the segregated fee that students pay for the UPARK, to pay for interest debt payments on a campus parking ramp. That was successfully prevented by students on the finance committee last year. This year, the Parking & Transit Office has put together a proposal through the recently created transportation committee, and in front of the Senate Finance Committee, to assess every student who uses the UPARK, such that we would have to pay a daily surcharge every day that we use the bus. For the majority of our UWM students who depend on taking the bus to school everyday, this is a ridiculous idea. It is an obvious increase in our student dollars being taken out of our own pockets! The students on the committee have worked courageously to keep our costs from rising, and completed deliberations on Saturday, November 17th, apparently preventing the user fee. However, any final decisions have to be ultimately approved by the Senate. So if you are a UPARK user, I encourage you to take a moment and let your student representatives know if you depend on your UPARK service to come to school! This is already paid for in your segregated fee, so let your representatives know if you depend on this service. They represent you on these issues, and they appreciate your support.