"Either students pay the same lower fee now and make campus organizations fundraise like crazy, or students pay a larger fee now and not worry about admission to college events later," said student body president Emily Hamer.

It's hard to fundraise because students end up giving to the fundraisers anyway, and that stretches their cash, senator Theresa Fruehling, junior, continued.

This increased proposal, initiated by students, is designed to meet the goals of Student Senate, Entertainment ToKnight (ETK), and possibly the Homecoming activities.

It will increase ETK's budget, so it can be self-sufficient and attract bigger names for large events such as concerts and comedians, etc. It will also increase the number of small events without raising ticket prices.

In addition, raising the activity fee would reduce the number of weekly money requests by campus organizations. This would involve a tentative budget being set at the end of each school year.

Another benefit is that it will cover the cost of conference fees for ETK and senate leaders. These conferences allow the groups' leaders to compare ideas with other colleges of similar size, work together to share costs of speakers and entertainers and improve their leadership skills.

Currently ETK's budget is extremely low compared to benchmark schools Loras and Luther.

"The proposal was initiated by comparing our schools to other schools and seeing what we can do with more money," said ETK representative/senator Luke Harms.

"We do expensive things. There is no way to do all of these activities without an activity fee. Otherwise we would have to charge for every activity."

"I think that it would be okay to pay more as long as the activities they plan are better," said sophomore Lindy Zars. "If you can't tell the difference from the old events with the increase, then there is no point."

Student input is very important. Senators are encouraging students to fill out a survey on the fee increase.

The percentage of increase in the fee will be unknown until the survey results are in.

Survey tables will be set up outside the cafeteria Monday, Tuesday, and Tuesday, Nov. 30.

Fall Term Activity Costs

Marty Putz, comedian
$2,038.24

Peter Mayer, acoustic guitarist
$1,028.55

Wax Hands (family weekend)
$1,700.00

Outfly Activities
$974.25

Austin Powers
$700.00

Laser Storm
$1750.00

Blessid Union of Souls
$18,000.00 (approx) +several co-sponsorships

Tentative Winter Term Costs

Mapapas (acrobats)
$3,000.00

Think Fast (game show)
$2,000.00

Craig Carmean (comedian)
$1,500.00

Drive-in Movie
$3,000.00

Knight Elegance
$5,000.00