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INTO THE ABYSS
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The c-scan machine is just one piece of the
new equipment at Valley View Medical Center. The
new hospital opened Feb. 17 and is in full-operation
mode. It has all new equipment and the fastest MRI
machine in southern Utah.
ANNE McCONNELL / UNIVERSITY JOURNAL
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Federal grant gives
$28,200 for transit
By JACKIE ANDRUS
UNIVERSITY JOURNAL
Administrators of the Utah Department of Transportation
and the Five County Association of Government gave their
approval Wednesday for a $28,200 federal grant to partially
fund a new transit system in Cedar City, set to begin
operation March 4.
In addition to the grant, $14,000 from Cedar City will
provide a four-month budget. During that time the city,
along with the Cedar Area Transportation Service, will
determine the viability of the transit system, said Raymond
Green, Cedar City councilman.
The four-month operating cost does not include projected
revenue from riders or donations, Green added.
“If we decide it’s not a go we can return
all the assets to (FCAOG) and there will no longer be
an obligation on the city’s part,” Green said.
“By doing it this way we’re not getting into
a long-term obligation on the city’s part.”
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However, after an initial survey administrated
by the Cedar City Council that had a 21-percent response
rate, 60 percent of those respondents indicated they would
use a transit service, Green said.
“But all we have to go on now is what people would
say they would do if there were a transit system,”
Green said.
The two-part proposal for CATS, which will begin operation
March 4, includes a routed
transportation service that will make approximately 26 stops
throughout the community with the use of two 10-passenger
buses that have wheelchair accessibility. The second facet
of the proposal includes a Dial-A-Ride Service, a curbside
service geared to meet the needs of disabled people, which
will operate with the use of two mini-vans also with wheelchair
accessibility, said Rick Holman, Cedar City administrative
services director.
The transit system will also include stops around SUU and
campus housing. It will also make stops at Wal-Mart, the
most southern stop, and to Fiddler’s Canyon and the
new Valley View Medical Center, the most northern stops,
Green said.
“We expect students will use the system,” he
said.
The routed bus transit system is scheduled to run Monday
through Friday from 7 a.m. to 6 p.m. Cost for the bus will
be $1 per ride. The Dial-A-Ride program will also be available
Monday through Friday from 8 a.m. to 5 p.m. and will cost
more than the bus system because the program is designed
as curbside assistance, Holman said.
Specific routes and times for the buses is still being determined,
Green said.
The two buses that will be used for the CATS system were
previously used in the St. George area and have been leased
to CATS through the FCAOG, Holman said.
Though the transit services are available to everyone, the
proposal was originally intended as part of a plan to meet
the needs of the disabled, Holman said.
“About a year ago the Cedar City Disability Action
Committee evaluated the needs of the disabled in the community,”
Holman said. “They felt such a public transportation
system would assist these people.”
Green said he expects the transit system to be well utilized
by the elderly, people with disabilities, and people with
low income.
Introduction and an opening of the transit system will be
March 3 at 5 p.m. at the Heritage Center, 105 N. 100 East,
before operation begins March 4.
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Student fees
might climb
$6.5 for Fall
SUUSA Senate plans to discuss a $6.50 increase in student
fees for campus computers and the PVA college.
By TYLER JOHNSON
UNIVERSITY JOURNAL
The SUUSA Senate is meeting to discuss an increase in Fall 2003
semester’s student fees Tuesday.
The increase, if approved, will require students to pay an additional
$6.50 per semester for campus computers and the College of Performing
& Visual Arts.
Kolby Day, academic vice president, said a survey conducted
last semester persuaded administrators that the current computer
funding was inadequate.
According to figures provided by Day, an increase of $5 per
semester will partially allow administrators to fund electronic
devices, including maintaining and expanding Internet connections.
The fees also will allow the school to put the student servers
on a two-year replacement cycle, repair and maintain current
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storage devices, repair and maintain the campus-wide backup
system, maintain the Microsoft/Novell licensing, and maintain
classroom media, including VCRs, Elmos and DVD players, all
of which are currently not funded by student fees.
Even though an increase in fees would put an additional $55,170
in the computer budget, administrators say it’s not enough.
They would need an additional $275,000 to meet the school’s
needs, according to Day’s information.
Students currently pay $30 per semester toward computer use.
The College of Performing & Visual Arts is also asking for
an increase in student fees.
Sens. Chris Bodily, Wendy Milam and Katey Nafus of the College
of Performing & Visual Arts wrote a letter to the President’s
Council, dated Nov. 20, 2002, requesting a $1.50 per semester
increase in student fees.
Day said there is not a set amount taken from student fees to
cover the arts on campus. All money given to them is on a need-by-need
basis and must be approved by SUUSA.
The increase in funding would allow the College of Performing
& Visual Arts to have a set budget each semester.
SUUSA President Matt Glazier said he doesn’t like the
fact that students are even being confronted with the proposed
fee increase.
“I feel bad for students,” Glazier said. “It’s
only $6.50, but it’s just one more thing.”
The proposal comes after a 23.5 percent increase for Fall 2003
semester in January.
Day said he urges students to attend the meeting Tuesday to
voice their opinions on the issue.
The meeting will be in the Student Conference Room in the Sharwan
Smith Center at 6:30 p.m. Tuesday.
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