Daily ®p Trojan
Volume LXXIII, Number 63
University of Southern California
Los Angeles, California
Thursday, May 18, 1978
Penalties for late fee bills to increase in fall
Penalties for late settlement of fee bills will be increased next fall.
An amendment to university policy recently approved by the office of the executive vice-president and the vice-president of finance increases the present $15 penalty during the first week of classes to $25 and the $30 penalty for the second week to $50.
A $100 penalty will be charged from the third week through the rest of the semester.
The $100 penalty replaces the present $45 penalty for the third week and eliminates the fourth week penalty of $60.
“We want to dissuade students from being tardy. It's a convenience to both the student and the administration if everyone has their fee bills settled on time," said Jack Wagner, director of student accounting services.
On the average about 90% of the students pay their fee bills on time, Wagner said, but the 10% that are late create a significant problem.
“With the large student population at the university, 10% is about 2.500 students,’’ he said.
The administration also approved a $5 service charge for bounced checks.
In the past no charge was made to the student, but Wagner said a sufficient amount of checks were being returned, creating extra expense for the university.
An appropriate deferment charge will also be assessed for students receiving short-term tuition deferments, he said.
Short-term deferments are granted to students who for a legitimate reason are unable to pay their fee bills on time.
“For instance, a student says his father is in England and hasn’t sent the check to pay for his tuition. In this case, we allow the student to borrow the money up to $500 until the money is made available,” W'agner said.
“But too many students have been using the university’s gratis deferment policy for convenience sake when they could just as well pay up right then,” Wagner said.
The deferment charge will not affect students who are waiting for financial aid to be processed, Wagner said.
Wagner refused to disclose the amount of the deferment charge but said it would be competitive with the amount charged by other borrowing agencies.
Rise in utility rates contributes to hike in next year’s housing costs
By Jim Saenz
St*rr WriUr
The 10% rise in housing costs next fall has been partially caused by an increase in utility rates, university figures show.
Residence halls officials are attempting to organize residents to take advantage of several energy conservation programs to slow the rate of further increases.
"We are attempting to form various student committees from university housing units to work with other students on the advantages of energy conservation and energy education and instituting a campus-wide recycling program," said Mike Smith of the Office of Residential Life.
Smith said this year’s university housing-cost increase was partly due to the 27.8% increase in utility costs from this spring to next fall.
We are attempting to organize these groups to cut down on these hikes that the university has no control over,” Smith said.
Currently, the university is billed each month for utility services from the city of Los Angeles.
“Our overall goal is to cut down on energy costs to slow the sharp increases the students have faced in the past few years,” Smith said.
Smith said room and board costs should only go up each year at the 6-7% national rate of inflation rather than nearly 10% as it has been.
“We are trying to get 7 to 10 students to work in each of these
“To reduce outrageous costs, both students and administrators need to become effective in conservation, but it is a matter of getting these administrators and students together.”
three areas to generate a base group that will seek student support,” Smith said.
“In the area of energy conservation, there is money to be made through savings in light and water usage through merely taking shorter showers and turning off unused lighting," he said.
“Becoming aware of ethical education issues is of extreme importance in teaching others to become more energy efficient.” Smith said he would like to institute a campus-wide effort in
recycling paper, bottles and cans.
“UCLA has such a system and it can be used to create student jobs, as well as fighting increases.”
Both Smith and John Conroy, maintenance coordinator of residential halls, will head the organizing groups in each of the three categories.
The Troy Hall apartment complex is currently earning $80 every other month by recycling paper with only a 15% resident participation rate. Smith said.
"To reduce outrageous costs, both students and administrators need to become effective in conservation, but it's a matter of getting these administrators and students together,” Smith said.
Smith said any resident is eligible to participate in the program. “I think by next year, the university will have a national model program that will be studied by numerous institutions, but it will take individuals working together to be effective."
The first attempt to recruit interested students was unsuccessful and the meeting was canceled. Smith said. Further attempts to generate student interest will occur before the semester is through, he said.
SPECIAL!
!-:'
APPLES AT 32nd STREET MARKET
Fruit prices in Grill § higher than market s
The price of fresh fruit is considerably higher at the Grill than at 32nd Street Market, according to a survey conducted by the Daily Trojan.
At the Grill, apples are sold for 43 cents each. At 32nd Street Market, a pound of apples can be bought for 59 cents. More than a pound of oranges and bananas can be purchased at the market for the price of a'-single piece of fruit at the Grill.
When questioned about fruit prices at the Grill, Paul Copeland, director of food service, said, “Our prices rise and fall with the market.”
Bob Sorenson, manager of 32nd Street Market, said, “We’ve got everyone beat. We do a very large business in fruit.”
Because the market sells below cost, the produce is less expensive, Copeland said. "It’s known as the loss leader’ method. They take a loss on some items to attract customers. They know that most of them are going to buy more than just one item,” he said.
Copeland said lettuce is now selling for 27 cents a head on the open market. Sorenson said the market sells lettuce for 19 cents a head.
“It would be plain stupid for us to sell below cost,” Copeland said.
Copeland agreed with a suggestion that the market can offer lower prices because it does a large volume of business.
“After all, we’re not a market. People come to the Grill for a well-balanced meal,” he said.
Copeland said the Grill sells about 300 pounds of fruit, most of it in salads.
Sorenson said 32nd Street Market sells almost 3 tons of fruit each day.
“It doesn’t surprise me. They’re the only market in the area,” Copeland said.
Copeland said students should take advantage of low priced produce at the market. He added that fruit prices at the Grill will be going down shortly.
FRUIT IN THE GRILL