Andres Rivera
Staff Writer

Lab fees for certain classes are collected and distributed every year, but some students are not sure that they are being used effectively.

Departments assure students, however, that the lab fees are being used in ways that better the quality of their education.

“It would be good to have freedom of choice,” Bernadette Barajas, junior biology major, said.

In the biology department alone, there are 25 courses that require lab time, although they are not all offered in the same year. In order to purchase the equipment needed for the classes, the science departments pool their funds received by the lab fees.

“We put all the money into a single fund and let it accumulate,” Jeffery
Burkhart, biology department chair, said. “It allows us to access state of the art equipment.”

This method, with the help of a grant, has led them to recently purchase a DNA sequencer. New microscopes have also been added to the labs. Other major equipment purchased by lab fees included an electron microscope and a hood necessary to conduct research.

“I don’t think that they should charge us that much in biology,” said Midaila Rimbenieks, sophomore biology major.

The science departments allocate the pooled funds to whichever
department needs the money. If the chemistry department needs more money to buy equipment than the biology department does, for example, more money will be given to the chemistry department.

Burkhart stresses the fact that departments try to use the funds wisely

and use them when major equipment is needed.

“We only buy what we can’t get some other way,” Burkhart said.

All equipment purchased is used directly by the students. Equipment is not reserved for students majoring in the subject. For example, if a student has interest in using the electron microscope, a professor will teach the student how it is used.

“We couldn’t operate without lab fees,” Burkhart said. “Most students understand that.”

Some students who pay the lab fee in chemistry are not aware that they may be able to receive a refund after the semester. Rimbenieks believes there is a lack of communication between the students and the department.

“A lot of people are upset,” Rimbenieks said. “If you don’t claim it, the department gets to keep it.”

Bernadette Barajas, junior biology major, says the lab fees should be used to upgrade the physics lab. The computers tend to be slow and freeze from time to time.

“We are striving to offer the ?best education, science students are the ones supporting the program,” Burkhart said.

Lab fees are not the only source that funds the departments.

The biology department has worked hard to secure outside funding. Jay Jones, professor of biology and biochemistry is one of the professors involved in grant writing efforts.

“If we weren’t as aggressive, lab fees would have to be more,” Burkhart said.

Gary Colby, professor of photography, has not generally noticed a negative response to the lab fees by students. The lab fees help the photography lab ease the amount of materials students need to purchase.

“In elementary photography, you buy the film but we provide developer fluid, matting, borders.”

Barajas believes the lab fees for photography are understandable even though students are required to use their own camera and pay for their own film and photo paper.

Andres Rivera can be reached at arivera3@ulv.edu.