Students at East enrolled in only one credit hour at Main are still being charged to use the Student Recreation Complex whether or not they are on the Main campus.
Amy Fox, an applied psychology program junior, said she has only one class at Main campus, and the shuttle bus schedule gives her a limited time before she has to catch the shuttle back to East campus.
"I have no idea what is even in the gym over there" she said. "They could at least advertise [the SRC] more at East."
Fox said she paid $30 per semester to use the ASU/Chandler Gilbert Community College Physical Activities Center because it was more convenient.
Matt Garrison, a business administration and sociology senior at East, said, "I don't mind paying, but I'd rather put the money into East campus than for better equipment at the SRC at Main. They have enough over there."
Garrison said he is also taking three online units at Main and is rarely at the Main campus.
Gary Kleeman, the executive coordinator of associated students at Main in 1985 who headed the voting process, tried to gain student support for passing the referendum in 1986 so that the SRC could be built. The referendum granted a $20 million bond issue to construct the 145,000-square foot complex.
Kleeman said the East campus did not exist at the time the voting was held to approve the new fees students would have to pay to construct the SRC.
"They could not participate in that process because the [East] campus simply did not exist," Kleeman said.
The fees charged for the SRC depend on the number of credit hours a student is enrolled in at the Main campus. With one to six credits, a student pays $12, and with over seven credit hours, a student pays $25. The SRC charges at least $5 extra for instructor-led exercise classes like aerobics and more for group activities.
Currently "no student may waive the SRC fees," said Doug Ewing, assistant director at the SRC, and as long as students are enrolled at the Main campus, they will be charged either $12 or $25 for the SRC.
According to the SRC Web site, "All ASU students who are currently enrolled at the Main campus are automatic members of the SRC through payment of their registration fees."
Guy Le Masieur, a doctoral candidate in the exercise and wellness program and an activities coordinator at the Chandler Gilbert Community College Physical Activities Center, said students at East don't have the opportunity to voice their concerns about SRC fees.
A new student government at East is in the works, and Le Masieur said work should be done to improve its gym facilities.
Ewing said a survey is now being conducted to find out whether an increase in the fees will be increased to possibly $100 a year.
Ewing said "all the fees that students pay go strictly to pay for the bond ...; they do not cover operational costs."
East Graduate student Marcia Wilbur said she paid SRC fees in the past but never used the facility because she lived so far from the Main campus.
"I ended up having to use the PAC over here, [East] but it was an out-of-pocket cost of $31. Their hours are not as good, and the amount of equipment available is not as good either," she said.
Reach the reporter at camardella@asu.edu.
