Talking tech fee and campus security

Before closing out his term in office, student body President Frank Harrison had two final orders of business.

According to a press release from Student Government, Harrison is working in conjunction with other student body leaders across Florida to initiate a technology fee.

The fee would be included with the tuition students already pay.

“Technology expenses have taken a back seat to a wide variety of other expenditures including everything from teacher salaries to campus renovations,” the statement said. “This is primarily due to the fact that funds for technology are among a pool of money the University has acquired through student tuition and other sources of campus revenue.”

According to Harrison, the proposed fee would be implemented at the discretion of each state university. The fee could also only be approved when, or if, a referendum of the student body is approved. The students would then have the ability to decide how and when the fee would be imposed.

The second initiative Harrison started concerns campus safety.

“Frank Harrison filed an executive order last week for the establishment of a commission on campus safety,” a separate press release stated.

The commission’s purpose would be to evaluate and make suggestions on the current safety measures taken by the University administration. A main objective of the commission will be to study how communication – more specifically, MoBull text messaging service between the University and students is conducted in the event of an emergency.

“The tragedy that occurred at Virginia Tech has stirred the hearts and minds of students, as well as student leaders, and we feel it’s necessary and prudent to create a group to examine the mechanisms we have in place for first response activities on this campus, in addition to examining other possibilities,” Harrison said in the release.

Even though Harrison is leaving office, he said student body President-elect Barclay Harless will continue working with these initiatives.