A.S. approves $1 fee increase for CSSA

The California State Students Association recently passed an optional $1 per student fee increase that would pay for yearly CSSA membership dues, allowing all California State University institutions the opportunity to become voting CSSA members.

Currently, CSSA yearly membership dues for each CSU campus are 50 cents per student which is paid directly out of each university's Associated Students funding. The new optional $1 fee will be added to student tuition fees, and refunded to the students at a later date if they do not wish to pay the fee.

According to Cal State Long Beach A.S. President Suzie Aramesh, the CSSA is a valuable interest group that lobbies state legislators for the benefit of CSU students.

"They advocate for student rights, and they advocate for more services for students within the CSU system," Aramesh said.

"It was the CSSA that was successful in minimizing the tuition increases. Although there are tuition increases every year, the CSSA does an excellent job at keeping those costs down, and insuring that students have a say in the decision-making process of the trustees," Aramesh said.

Aramesh also said that the CSSA works very closely with the CSU trustees and the chancellor, who meets with the CSSA Executive Council before every trustee meeting.

The CSULB A.S. has not paid their approximate $14,000 in membership dues for the past two years, and as a result were recently informed that CSULB was no longer permitted to sit on the CSSA Board.

"We have decided that $14,000 would best be spent on campus than off campus," Aramesh said.

The new payment system, which will go into effect at the beginning of the 1996-1997 school year, will let the students decide whether or not they want their campus to be a CSSA member, rather than letting the A.S. decide for them.

Aramesh said that the reason the fee will increase from 50 cents per student to $1 per student is to offset the number of students that the CSSA is predicting will request refunds.