Internet rejected
HERTFORD students face charges of up to £25 for telecommunications services, which they are not using. Bills sent out to students show a blanket increase in battels of fifteen pounds this term for the use of internet connections. The charge - which was condemned by one disgruntled student as "a back door battels increase" - has even been levied in cases where rooms have no, or broken, internet connections.
The move comes amid confusion about which telecommunications services and charges the JCR have agreed to; the bursar insists that plans to install internet points have been the subject of discussions between the College and JCR for some time - and that the installation was agreed. However, both the current president Francois Murphy and Hugh Sawyer, in office at the time that the motion was passed, were unaware of any such agreement.
Following a JCR meeting on Sunday many students are withholding payment until a written explanation from the Bursar is forthcoming. Whilst some students see the charge as a reasonable fee for Internet services, others see it as an attempt to encourage students to buy personal computers, thereby reducing the need for central computer facilities. This, it is feared, may lead to the situation where it is necessary to own a computer putting poorer students at a disadvantage.
Mary Stevens, Hertford OUSU rep said "This sets a dangerous precedent and it is important that colleges do not give personal computer use precedence over other computer facilities. We do not want to end up in a situation where everyone is expected to have a personal computer in order to complete a degree here. In the light of the introduction of fees this is another heavy cost to students."
Since the service will only be used by a proportion of residents some are pressing for the charges to be restructured. Anna Fox, a second year biological sciences student living in Warnock House, a Hertford annex situated next to the Isis at Foley Bridge, said, "This is an unacceptable charge. Most people do not have computers in their room and will not be using the connection. The charge should be optional - only those using it should pay".
Concern over the charge comes as Hertford students on the main site face a bill of £25 for telephones, which have not yet been installed. Last year the JCR agreed to a telephone connection fee of seventy-five pounds, to be staggered over three years. It was expected that the telephones would be installed in both the main site and annexes by the first week of this term. Owing to technical difficulties in St Aldates, however, the plan to provide telephones in the annexes has been shelved for the moment; consequently residents there have only been charged fifteen pounds for the internet connections.
Those on the main site received a letter at the beginning of term stating that telephones would be installed and working within three days. No telephones have appeared.
Following the introduction of tuition fees, feelings are running high about any extra charges and many students at Sunday's JCR meeting saw it as important to challenge any back-door introduction of fees. Others thought that charges were being passed on to students for internet connections that are vital to the college for staging conferences.
A spokesperson for the college acknowledged that charges had been levied for telecommunication services and confirmed that there had been some delay in getting the telephones. The spokesperson could not say when the promised telephones would materialise.
14th Oct 1999