Two students showed up to discuss the findings of the President’s Fee Study Committee open forum Tuesday.

The forum was set up for students to voice complaints or concerns about fee increases. Student Association Welfare Adviser Curt Stein and SA President Rob McCormack were the only ones who attended the forum.

“I will have any set of concerns taken to the president because they are his concerns too,” said Anne Kaplan, executive assistant to the president, who organized the meeting.

The main topic brought up at the forum was the university’s over-dependence on student fees.

“When are we going to become cost-efficient?” asked Stein.

“You’re going to hurt a lot of students in a lot of ways,” Stein said.

For instance, the athletic fee is heavily dependent on student fees, Stein said. “It’s my concern that this is an indication of things to come,” he said.

Kaplan said one way to make the athletic department less dependent on the fees is to encourage higher attendance at athletic events.

“Increasing gate receipts and private funding depends on how well the team is doing,” Kaplan also said.

Stein said he understands fees need to rise.

“I’d like to see (that) what I’m getting is worth the extra dollar,” he added.

Kaplan said a large amount of the cost increase goes to utilities and health care.

“Maintenance is another thing. We have a physical plant here. It takes massive amounts to keep that going,” said Don Buckner, associate vice president for Student Affairs.

Due to the low attendance at the meeting, Stein also brought up the lack of campus unity at NIU.

“It’s a diverse campus,” Kaplan said.

It is hard to find a cause that would unify the whole campus, she added.

All the fee proposals are subject to further discussion by the Board of Regents, Kaplan said.