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A plan to provide bus passes for all students attending the University of Hawai'i at Mānoa cleared a major speed bump last month, as university administrators established a new fee to subsidize the project.
Representatives from the Associated Students of the University of Hawai'i asked the Board of Regents, on March 20, to authorize a mandatory $20 per semester fee, applicable to all full- and part-time students, excluding those enrolled in the college's medicine, law or outreach programs. Board members voted to support the proposal, which could be instituted as early as spring of 2010, following negotiations with city officials.
"Instead of dismissing us and taking a vote later, board chairperson Al Landon called the question and the proposal was approved unanimously, with no reservations," said ASUH senator Kiara Sakamoto. "We will now move forward to form a committee, with vice chancellor for students Francisco Hernandez, that will undertake contractual arrangements with O'ahu Transit Services, the municipal company that operates TheBus system."
Once modified, the UPass, which currently costs $100 per semester and was purchased by 2,841 students this spring, will be distributed upon validation of student identification cards. While the university will collect the UPass fee during registration, any revenue generated by the disbursement will be retained by the city.
"The terms of the dispersal of this fee are pending, but the entirety of the fees collected will go to O'ahu Transit Services," Sakamoto said.
To ensure input from the student organizations proposing the UPass fee, initial drafts of the agreement with the city, called a memorandum of understanding, will be composed by the Student Life and Development Office, according to Gregg Takayama, director of community and government relations for the Mānoa campus. He added that the Chancellor's Office would coordinate negotiations.
"The Chancellor's Office will be involved with the development of the memorandum of understanding by overseeing the consultation process with campus and UH system offices, meeting with city officials on behalf of the campus and reviewing the memorandum before seeking final approval from the Board of Regents," Takayama said.
Since the contractual agreement must be finalized between the university and O'ahu Transit Services, UH attorneys and financial advisers will also take part in discussions, said ASUH President Jamie Sohn.
"None of the costs from finalizing the contract will be incurred by students, however, since all of the parties involved are university employees," Sohn said.
Officials from TheBus have tentatively agreed to upgrade conditions for students commuting to and from the state's flagship institution, said Sohn, by making structural improvements to bus stops around campus.
"They've agreed to install electronic signs that will notify students, in real time, of the estimated arrival times of incoming buses, as well as when the last bus left," Sohn said. "They've also agreed to build more bike racks and add late-night buses for routes that stop at our school."
Students overwhelmingly support the UPass proposal, according to data collected by student senators. In a survey of 2,800 undergraduate and graduate students conducted by ASUH last year, 92 percent of respondents endorsed the measure.
Similarly, more than 77 percent of 604 pieces of written testimony gathered by student leaders favored the new fee, which has been championed by the UH Student Caucus, Sustainable Saunders, the Mānoa Neighborhood Board and the Honolulu City Council's Transportation and Planning Committee.
Some students feel the proposal is irresponsible, however, given the fiscal pressures placed upon students by the economic recession.
"Students are losing money and the university is losing money," said junior mathematics major Kelvin Moore. "Students can't pay for this when we have to pay for all of the other fees coming down the pipe because different departments can't meet their operating costs."
Sophomore Kristen Li, a sociology major, believes the fee is unfair for students facing financial hardship.
"Tuition has risen above $3,000 and books typically cost more than $500, but my hours at work keep getting cut back," Li said. "I understand that people need rides to school, but for those of us that have rides, don't have fat purses and are already paying for our own academic expenses, this is just another wasteful expenditure."
For others, though, the UPass presents an opportunity to save money on parking fees and gasoline.
"I'm pretty poor, but I still drive all the way from Kapolei and pay at least $30 each week on gas, and another $20 on parking, so a cheaper UPass will really help me get by," said senior Alicia Gomes. "I know some people think helping their less fortunate classmates is inconvenient, but why should we keep getting thrown under the bus?"
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