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ASUCLA board members Marilyn Gray (left), Randy Hall (center) and Marie Parkes are among the stud

As mandatory registration fees increase this spring quarter, student board members of the Associated Students of UCLA will be seeing a raise in their stipends as well.

At their March meeting, the ASUCLA board of directors unanimously approved an increase in student stipends by 13 percent in accordance with the association’s stipend policy.

Though the board’s student stipends, which hover under $5,000 annually, are automatically increased in accordance with student fees, if fees increase by 10 percent or more in a twelve-month period, the policy requires board approval.

Similarly, the mandatory registration fee increase for both undergraduate and graduate students will increase by approximately 13 percent – $593.77 and $586.50, respectively – this spring quarter from last year.

Cynthia Rabuy, the board’s vice-chair, said the stipend serves as a trade-off, since student board members are not allowed to work for ASUCLA jobs, such as Kerckhoff Coffee House or the UCLA Store.

“The idea behind the stipend is to compensate for your time, because you’re expected to put a certain amount of time in your work,” Rabuy said. “As a member of the board, you can’t work for ASUCLA, and that cuts off a lot of options.”

The board, which consists of student and management representatives, is in charge of approving policies for the association.

In a time when the association is struggling financially, the stipend increase is reflective of inflation, Rabuy said.

The stipend increase is just one of the ways that the association is showing the effects of state and budget cuts. Additionally, students don’t have money to spend in the bookstore or restaurants, Rabuy said.

“Our stipends increase because our expenses do, just like (regular) students,” she said.

While other universities charge student union fees of hundreds of dollars, ASUCLA only charges a $7.50 annual student union fee – the rest of its income is dependent on the financial successes of ASUCLA restaurants and the UCLA Store.

But due to a combination of lackluster athletic performances which negatively impact BearWear sales, a struggling economy, and new plans to make Ackerman Student Union more sociable, the $7.50 fee could be raised to an annual fee of up to $30.

The board is planning to put a referendum online fall quarter of the 2003-2004 school year to implement the increase.

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